Singer Recalls The Worst Judas Priest Show: “I Was So Embarrassed And Thought They Were Gonna Yell At Me”
In a new interview with Rock Down South, former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens has recalled one of the worst shows he ever played with the band and revealed he was afraid that the band members were gonna yell at him.
Tim “Ripper” Owens had joined the heavy metal band Judas Priest in 1996. After a 7-year tenure with the band, the musician was replaced by the band’s current singer Rob Halford. Currently, he is a member of the former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing‘s band, K.K.’s Priest.
Throughout his career with Priest, Ripper had released two studio albums. Those were the band’s thirteenth studio album Jugulator and the fourteenth studio album Demolition. He had also appeared on the band’s two live albums, 1998’s ’98 Live Meltdown and 2003’s Live In London.
Previously commented on what he thinks on Rob Halford, Ripper now recalled some of his worst shows in his entire career. Revealing an Iced Earth tour that he lost his voice, Ripper also mentioned a Judas Priest tour that he was upset because of the same problem. According to the singer, it was horrible that he lost his voice during Judas Priest‘s Jugulator tour.
“The Iced Earth show that I did at the Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan,” he says. “It was the last show of the tour – probably ‘The Glorious Burden’ tour, maybe, I think.
“And I lost my voice. When I got there, I had no voice at all. It was just horrible. I’ll never forget it.
“And then I had a Judas Priest show like that too. We did an American run when I made the band for the ‘Jugulator’ tour. And then we went to Europe. And the second show, I think it was, I’d lost my voice.”
Ripper Says He Thought Judas Priest Members Were Gonna Yell At Him
When the musician continued to his words, he admitted that he’d never lost his voice like that during his career. Later, he mentioned his upset and said he felt embarrassing. Also, he thought that Judas Priest members were gonna yell at him when he told them that.
“And at that time, I’d never really lost my voice on something like that,” Ripper continues.
“And I was so embarrassed and upset. I thought, ‘These guys are gonna yell at me.’ We were on stage and I remember [telling] Glenn, ‘I don’t think I can do ‘Victim Of Changes’.’
“I’d never taken a song out of our setlist in my life. I could sing ‘Breaking The Law’ or ‘Grinder’ — there’s plenty of songs I can do without… The problem is ‘Victim Of Changes’ has that high note at the end, and if nothing comes out of my mouth, it’s gonna be pretty embarrassing. But that was really bad.
“So those two shows still stick out… Not that I’ve not had crappy shows since then — shows that I’ve probably lost my voice — but that show, I really think about that all the time.”
