Judas Priest

Judas Priest a re an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. They have been referred to as one of the pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement, and cited as a formative influence on various metal subgenres, including speed metal, thrash metal, and power metal, as well as the hard rock and glam metal scene of the 1980s. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with poor record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.

During the 1970s, the core of bassist Ian Hill, lead singer Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing saw a revolving cast of drummers (with Les Binks being the only one who played on more than one album), before Dave Holland joined them for ten years beginning in 1979. Since Holland's departure in 1989, Scott Travis has been the band's drummer. Halford left Judas Priest in 1992, and after a four-year hiatus, they regrouped in 1996 with Tim "Ripper" Owens (formerly of Winter's Bane) replacing him. After two albums with Owens, Halford returned to the band in 2003. Downing left Judas Priest in 2011, replaced by Richie Faulkner. The current line-up consists of Hill, Tipton, Travis, Halford and Faulkner; although Tipton remains as an official member of the band, he has limited his touring activities since 2018 due to Parkinson's disease, with Andy Sneap filling in for him. Hill and Tipton are the only two members of the band to appear on every album.