Rob Halford

format_quote “Pat’s waaaay too deep in the closet. Come out, Pat! Oh, dear.”

stars  And while "Metal God" has been Rob's nickname for over a decade, it recently became an official trademark of Rob's when plans for a movie by the same title were announced. Rob's lawyers took legal rights to the title to protect his status with the fans and then warned the movie's producers of impending legal action if they carried through with their title. Instead, the movie was retitled and released as Rock Star.

stars  Rob formed two bands in Phoenix, the hardcore Fight in the mid '90s and the experimental Two in the later half of the decade. But in 1999, Rob had a "resurrection", returning to his metal roots with his namesake Halford. To get back to the street level connection with the fans and the music, Rob moved his U.S. residency from his mansion in Phoenix to an apartment on 6th Avenue in the Hillcrest suburb of San Diego, California's Balboa Park district (actually about two blocks from the Park Manor Hotel where the band worked on writing Crucible in Room 303 - hence the title of the opening track.

stars  One night in 1981, Rob made a guest appearance with Surgical Steel for a couple of Priest numbers and laid a special announcement on those in attendance: not only did he love the people of Phoenix, he loved the city so much that he was going to make it his home! It wasn't until six years later in1987 that Rob officially made the Arizona desert his new home, purchasing a large house in the hills of the Lincoln Heights subdivision of Paradise Valley, an upscale suburb of the Greater Phoenix area.

stars  On Judas Priest's first tour of the United States in 1979, one city caught Rob's attention with its western charm and desert plains: Phoenix, Arizona would become a favorite Stateside hangout for Rob, who would spend many wild nights, hot and crazy days on the Valley Of The Sun's local heavy metal scene, as he took one of it's bands, Surgical Steel under his wings.

stars  An international dweller, Rob keeps an apartment in Amsterdam, Holland and frequents a small home back in Walsall, England near family and friends where he was raised. Rob does not have U.S. citizenship and he maintains homes outside of the country for tax purposes, though he did find himself in trouble with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.