Rob Halford says that he once tried to seduce former IRON MAIDEN frontman Paul Di’Anno.
The JUDAS PRIEST singer made the revelation in his upcoming autobiography, “Confess”, which has already been described by the U.K.’s The Telegraph as “one of the most candid and surprising memoirs of the year.”
In the book, Halford recalls inviting Di’Anno back to his hotel room when MAIDEN supported PRIEST on a 1980 tour. Just prior to the trek, Di’Anno was quoted in a music paper as saying that that MAIDEN was going to “blow the bollocks off PRIEST” on the trek, a statement which irked then-PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing enough to want to remove MAIDEN from the bill.
Halford writes, according to Metal Hammer: “We didn’t really hang out and banter with MAIDEN much on that tour, but maybe I took Di’Anno‘s comment that he would blow PRIEST off stage too literally… because the one night we got drunk together, I tried to seduce him! We went to my room to carry on drinking, but I was too pissed to try anything, and he was too pissed to even know what I wanted to try.
“I think that was definitely for the best.”
Halford publicly declared his homosexuality back in 1998 during an appearance on MTV News.
A few years ago, Rob told The Press Of Atlantic City that he expected metal fans to alienate him when he first spoke about his sexual orientation. “I probably deluded myself into thinking I would get rejection,” he said. “Nothing could have been further from the truth.”
He continued: “When you make that choice of stepping out and facing the issue of disclosure, you do create this kind of self-imposed negative fear. It’s unfortunate it still happens today. ‘Do I step out and say I’m a gay guy?’ But you have got to do it and live your life on your terms and no one else’s terms. Don’t say you can’t do this and you are worried about people being offended. If they push you away, then they push you away. Grab life by the horns and tell them, ‘Take me for what I am and who I am and if you don’t like it, that’s your thing. Not my thing.'”
He added: “If I had been in the band at the time … I think when it happened was a good moment. The fans were amazing.”
“Confess” will arrive on September 29 via Hachette Books.
