Ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says he is hopeful that he will reunite with his former bandmates for a one-off performance at a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
Having been eligible for induction since 1999, JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for last year’s class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but ultimately didn’t clinch the nomination.
Last week, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame‘s class of 2020. The top vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland’s Public Hall.
Speaking to Eonmusic, Downing said that he is open to playing with his former bandmates again if PRIEST gets the nod.
“Yeah, that’s an interesting one, really,” he said. “I don’t know what the deal is — if a nominated person like me or [former JUDAS PRIEST drummer] Les Binks gets in, are we entitled to play? I don’t know how that all works, but I guess we’ll fathom that all out. I would imagine for one day that people can sensibly think, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters. What matters is that we’ve achieved this.’ Collectively, we have played our part, and it should be a moment of splendor, really, and enjoyment, and something that we can be pretty grateful of. And it doesn’t hurt, you know? It’s often said that funerals bring people together — that’s not to say that getting in the Hall Of Fame‘s a funeral — but this could maybe have an effect that it just gives us the opportunity to get together and get on the stage and just enjoy the moment, really.”
Downing, who left PRIEST acrimoniously eight years ago, said that it is an honor to be nominated for the Rock Hall once again.
“Yeah, it’s great, because it’s some accolade, really,” he said. “The Hall Of Fame, it’s not easy to get in there. It’s difficult, and it takes even giant bands a lifetime even to be nominated. I don’t think BLACK SABBATH were too fast, so I guess you have to be of an age… It is a fact that we’re 50 years old [as a band], and the last time we didn’t get in. We’re not all here, obviously; Dave Holland [drummer 1979-1989, who died in 2018] has gone, and he wasn’t a young man when he went, really.
“In years to come, when you look back at your career and everything, I think it’s like anybody in certain walks of life, in the world of sports or film — you can always look at your trophy cabinet,” he added. “I think it comes down to the trophies that you’ve got really. It’s not an easy gig to get really, getting in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and not everybody makes it, and a lot of great artists don’t.”
To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.
A voter pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class. Fans will also have a chance to take part in the process by voting at RockHall.com or an interactive kiosk at the museum in Cleveland.
Downing, Binks, Holland, Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and Scott Travis are on the ballot for JUDAS PRIEST.
Halford told Billboard in 2017 that he was not opposed to the idea of reuniting with Downing at the Rock Hall induction ceremony if they were to ever receive the honor. “Everything’s on the table for anyone that’s been associated with PRIEST in and out of the band,” the singer said.