Former singer Tim “Ripper” Owens has slammed Rob Halford‘s recent claim that a straight man can’t front JUDAS PRIEST.
In a new Interview Tim said:
“Rob and I are friends, and I really don’t care [about his comment]. What’s he supposed to say? Rob is the band. He is the singer and Rob‘s gay, so what you can say? I don’t care that he said it.
He’s the singer of JUDAS PRIEST. I think it’s funny. Obviously, someone else can sing in [the band]. Maybe I’m gay and I didn’t know it.”
He continued:
“I love Rob. He’s so amazing — he’s an amazing guy. We’re friends, and he’s the singer of JUDAS PRIEST. He’s the Metal God… I don’t think he means anything by it. He just said it. I don’t care.
JUDAS PRIEST was my college. I do what I do now because of JUDAS PRIEST… I sang with them; I had a great time; and comments like that, those are just fun comments.”
Earlier this month, Halford said about his position in PRIEST:
“A straight man can’t do my job. That’s the way I view it. Freddie [Mercury] said it wasn’t important, but if Freddie hadn’t have been gay, QUEEN would’ve been a totally different band.”