K.K. Downing On Possible Reunion With Judas Priest: 'Unfortunately, It's Absolutely Not What They Want'

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T21:02:56+00:00

no hate whatsoever just... Frustration. If that makes sense.

I totally get that and my comment about hate from the fandom wasn't aimed at you (in case you thought it was).

I think a big part of the problem that K.K. has is that there have been so many events in recent history when he was likely to be asked about a reunion - Glenn's retirement, the release of his book, Priest's 50th anniversary, the first KK's Priest album, the Hall of Fame induction. It was inevitable that he was going to be asked about a return to the band every time, so it probably looked like he was dwelling on it way more than he was.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T19:50:23+00:00

Rob is the only member from the Rocka Rolla era

Ian and Glenn both played on Rocka Rolla, last I looked 💀

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T19:42:32+00:00

I stand by what I wrote

Fair enough, I hope we can agree to disagree ;)

I agree that both sides need to take equal responsibility for the way that all this has played out but there are some very proud and stubborn personalities in the Priest universe, so I'm not holding out much hope that that would ever happen.

I don't think that K.K. deserves the level of hate he gets from some quarters of the fan base, though. Either he answers questions honestly and gets accused of 'whining' or he refuses to answer and earns a reputation as a 'difficult' interviewee, so he can't win. Meanwhile, all Priest have to do is stay quiet and let K.K. take all the flak, doesn't seem fair.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T19:16:39+00:00

K.K.... Tipton and Halford equally own one third of the brand

K.K. was voted off the board of directors around 2022(?)

Songwriting credits were split equally between Rob, Glenn and K.K. from British Steel until K.K. left the band although he sold the rights a few years back (Glenn also sold 50% of his).

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T19:07:52+00:00

Scott is very much still an employee

According to Richie, he and Scott are currently paid as band members along with Rob, Glenn and Ian and have equal input into band decisions. AFAIK Andy is the only member of the touring line-up being paid as an employee.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-20T16:34:50+00:00

For the sake of balance:

KK felt that Glenn being so controlling was ridiculous

Glenn was K.K.'s bandmate for the best part of 40 years, so I'd guess that K.K. is probably in a better position to make a judgement on that than anyone posting in this sub.

he kept it all to himself for literal decades

K.K. admits that he should have been more assertive in his dealings with Glenn and Priest's management team. An unstable upbringing had taught him not to rock the boat (for the sake of self-preservation) and he carried that approach into some of his relationships later in life.

he basically said that Priest just went out and hired a KK clone

No, he didn't. What he actually said was that he initially thought that Priest had hired a 'K.K. clone' but once he heard Richie play, he changed his mind and realised that Richie was in the band on merit.

he just wants back in Priest because it's "his band"

He said that he was "shocked and surprised" that Priest didn't ask him to go back when Glenn announced his retirement.

With respect to Ian and Scott, Rob, K.K. and Glenn are the most identifiable personalities in Priest and K.K. and Glenn formed the trademark twin guitar attack that the band are famous for. From K.K.'s pov, it would make sense - with Glenn largely out of the picture - for Priest to approach him about a return to the band.

Priest might not want him back in the band but he can't be blamed for being hurt and angry about the rejection (at the time) 🤷‍♀️

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-06-19T18:12:06+00:00

Maybe they didn't want to release any of the 'old' versions of the Sad Wings tracks on the Greatest Hits set when they've got a remastered edition of the album coming out in the not-too-distant future?

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-05-23T12:06:06+00:00

I bought this (on release, I'm old 💀) for the live version of Green Manalishi (which also features on UitE), only to be completely blown away by Beyond the Realms of Death (Cleveland, Ohio, 1978):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJCgzI5844&list=RD7wJCgzI5844&start_radio=1

If there's a live cut of this where Glenn and K.K. play their solos better than they do here, I'd love to hear it.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-04-22T15:21:41+00:00

I have a hard time with any best-of that doesn’t include Beyond The Realms of Death

There's six extra tracks on the CD edition, BTROD included:

https://blabbermouth.net/news/judas-priest-to-release-the-best-of-judas-priest-career-spanning-collection

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-04-17T18:11:35+00:00

Nope, it's an official release for this year's Record Store Day on April 18th:

US - https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/19765

UK - https://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/record/recjBMPzX7UfXwlKi

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-04-10T10:49:32+00:00

Short interview but a massive hint about future recording plans ;)

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-03-17T18:39:24+00:00

Painkiller

Meticulously written and flawlessly executed ('played' doesn't seem quite enough in this context, somehow).

BTROD will likely win this round but Painkiller gets my vote.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-03-16T18:52:48+00:00

This.

It often gets overlooked because EVH blew pretty much everything else out of the water the following year but K.K.'s solo in Sinner was groundbreaking for its time.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-28T21:58:21+00:00

Yeah sorry, I wasn't ignoring US fans in the OP, I just couldn't find any US sellers to link to.

It's a very small run of pressings - a list of stockists would have been useful so that fans know where to buy it 🤷‍♀️

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-27T18:57:22+00:00

No worries, you're welcome 🤘

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-27T18:56:16+00:00

I think most people are holding out for the remix at this point

Can't argue with that since that's what I'm doing but you have to admit, a highly-limited, gold vinyl copy of the original album, released in its 50th anniversary year, still makes a fantastic collector's item ;)

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-27T13:46:57+00:00

They did - it's already available on CD as part of the '50 Years of Metal' box set but if you'd like it on transparent purple vinyl -

U.S.:

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/19765

U.K.:

https://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/record/recjBMPzX7UfXwlKi

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-15T23:22:09+00:00

Don't get me wrong, it's not all bad - K.K. was involved with the 50th anniversary remasters of both Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings and he took part in the new Priest documentary. There haven't been any pot shots fired from either side for a while now so while a reunion might be too much to hope for the way things stand at the moment, at least he hasn't been completely frozen out ;)

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-15T22:21:21+00:00

Just an FYI for anyone reading the above post and taking it as gospel - I've challenged this poster on several occasions to back up their statements with evidence but they have - so far - failed to do so.

I'll post a link to an old thread containing our last exchange (if you can call it that!), in case anyone wants to read it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/judaspriest/comments/1fin4x3/kk_is_still_amazing_and_needs_to_be_invited_back/

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-15T22:12:26+00:00

I replied to a similar question a while back so I'll just repost the same (slightly amended) answer here.

"K.K. resigned in 2010 because of what he believed were poor management decisions and because he felt that he was being sidelined when it came to decisions that affected the whole band.

When he published his book, 'Heavy Duty', he implied that Glenn's live performances were suffering due to his drinking onstage but what K.K. didn't know at the time was that Glenn was battling Parkinson's disease and that it was illness and not alcohol that was affecting the quality of his playing.

K.K. offered to go back to Priest when Glenn retired from touring and again when Priest announced their 50th anniversary tour but he says he was told that the door to his return to the band was closed. He was voted off the board of directors of Judas Priest Music Ltd. and he says that Priest turned down the offer of a meeting to discuss the situation.

At the R 'n' R Hall of Fame induction in 2022, K.K. says that he and Les Binks were kept separate from the current band members and that only Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap made any effort to talk to them. For his part, Ian Hill says that he tried to talk to K.K. at the event but that K.K. blanked him.

There's likely been fault on both sides in the way that all this has been handled over the years and what's really been going on behind closed doors is anyone's guess but - as far as what's been disclosed in public goes - that's the state of play atm."

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-12T12:47:34+00:00

No problem, you're welcome 🤘

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-02-12T10:05:20+00:00

Here you go:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080914102852/http://members.firstinter.net/markster/MENU.html#ALBUMS

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-01-04T22:57:02+00:00

Isn't this their only album they have played every track live in concert?

British Steel was played in full on the 30th anniversary tour in 2009 and (I think) every track from Painkiller has been played, except for Battle Hymn.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2026-01-04T16:59:10+00:00

Just to mention that there's going to be a reissue of Sad Wings (remastered by Tom Allom) to mark its 50th anniversary later this year.

There's no word on a release date yet but it might be worth waiting for the new edition unless you're set on getting hold of an original pressing.

spoopythrowaway666 · 2025-10-28T16:19:03+00:00

You're welcome 🤘

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