Former JUDAS PRIEST members K.K.
Downing and Tim 'Ripper' Owens, along with guitarist A.J.
Mills, bassist Tony Newton, and drummer Sean Elg have hinted at the live debut of at least two JUDAS PRIEST classics during KK'S PRIEST's upcoming North American tour with W.A.S.P.
The tour kicks off on September 10 in California and runs through October 31.
Earlier today (Sunday, June 28), KK'S PRIEST shared a short video of Downing and Mills playing the main riffs of the PRIEST songs "Heading Out To The Highway" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", neither of which had previously been performed by KK'S PRIEST.
In a December 2024 interview with Australia's Metal Mal, Owens was asked if KK'S PRIEST is performing JUDAS PRIEST songs during its live shows that JUDAS PRIEST itself doesn't play or has never played before.
Tim said: "Oh, we did do, yeah.
We did 'Before The Dawn'.
We do 'Before The Dawn', and PRIEST never played that, ever." The tour announcement comes on the heels of KK'S PRIEST's sophomore album, "The Sinner Rides Again", which was released in September 2023 via Napalm Records.
KK'S PRIEST made its live debut on July 6, 2023 at Downing's KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
K.K.
formed KK'S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour.
It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.
KK'S PRIEST released its debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.
Downing spent four months writing and recording "Sermons Of The Sinner" and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the 1980s.
Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.
He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.
In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.
In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST.
The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties." Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.
A full itinerary for KK'S PRIEST's North American tour with W.A.S.P.
has not been released, but it promises to be an epic display of metal music.
Fans can expect a night filled with JUDAS PRIEST classics and other metal mayhem from the band's repertoire.