| Name |
Rob Halford |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
English |
| Date of Birth |
25-August-1951 |
| Place of Birth |
Sutton Coldfield, England |
| Famous for |
Singing |
Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is considered one of the most consistently powerful singers in rock, possessing a wide vocal range, and is particularly known for his trademark high-pitched, operatic, soaring screams. His vocal range currently spans nearly four octaves. In addition to his work with Judas Priest, he has been involved with several side projects, including Fight, 2wo and Halford. He is credited as the first openly gay heavy metal star, having come out in 1998.Halford was introduced to co-founding Judas Priest member Ian Hill by his sister who was dating Hill at the time.
Halford, a former cinema manager, joined the band as singer, bringing with him drummer John Hinch from his previous band, Hiroshima. In August 1974, the band debuted with the single "Rocka Rolla", before releasing an album of the same name a month later. The next albums were Sad Wings of Destiny (1976), which included a variety of old material; 1977's Sin After Sin; and 1978's Stained Class and Killing Machine (released in America as Hell Bent for Leather), and 1979's live Unleashed in the East.Halford possesses a powerful voice with a large vocal range which is marked by his high screams and strong vibrato. In his prime, his range has been claimed to be near 6 octaves (including his Head voice) but in recent years, his range has lowered with age but is still close to 4 octaves and can still reach many high notes. However, his lower range has matured and become more powerful. Along with Ronnie James Dio and Bruce Dickinson, Halford is one of the pioneers of the operatic vocal style later to be adopted by power metal vocalists and regularly appears near the top in lists of the greatest rock vocalists/front-men of all time. Halford says that his style was influenced primarily by Arthur Brown, Janis Joplin, Lemmy, Robert Plant, David Bowie, Roger Daltrey (The Who), Freddie Mercury, Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).
