Former Judas Priest lead singer Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens recently gave an interview in which he discussed Judas Priest’s entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022. Tim expressed his thoughts and sentiments about not being mentioned during the induction: “I was shocked that I didn’t even receive a mention or a phone call from the band.” Almost ten years, a Grammy nomination, and everything. I would have wanted to have heard a ‘Thank you,’ or perhaps on stage, but it’s not shocking. That’s exactly what happens. It’s hardly surprising because they deleted my portion of Judas Priest history.” ‘Ripper’ then expressed his gratitude for the inclusion of K.K. Downing, pointing out their opposing views on leaving the band: “It was really great for Ken, except that after everything was said and done, management threw him under the bus and said negative things about him in the press.” Ken, on the other hand, had nothing but positive things to say about it. He claimed he had a nice time and enjoyed seeing the men. And I agree with Ken’s assessment.
When we talked about it, he remarked how wonderful it was, and I’m really glad for him. I’m overjoyed for all of the men. I adore them, as well as Glenn, Ian, Scott, and Rob. It’s well-earned.” Last year, Jayne Andrews, manager of Judas Priest, mentioned K.K. Downing attending the band during the induction, hinting he had lost his edge: “[Downing] appeared uneasy and almost out of his depth. And when we talked about it afterwards, we thought, ‘Well, Priest has been touring all these years; he hasn’t. So he’s definitely lost some confidence, clearly, coming to such a major event and having to confront all of us.’ It’s just a shame that once he understood there was no ill will on our end, he didn’t just peek his head around the door and say ‘thank you.’ But there you have it. He didn’t, so don’t worry about it.” The rest of the interview is available below.
