English heavy metal band Judas Priest will be joining songwriter/producer duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as the awardees of the Musical Excellence Award at this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Los Angeles on November 5. 

Rob Halford, the band’s frontman, expressed his elation over being inducted into the class of 2022. 

“All I want is a self(ie) with Dolly Parton,” he said as he laughed during a Zoom call with Billboard. 

“The other day I was just noodling on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame site … and when you look at the list of talent in there, it’s absolutely extraordinary. It’s a very, very important institution for recognizing various people that have been in music since music began, right from the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll. To be part of that is, like, wow,” he said. 

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Speaking about being acknowledged for the Musical Excellence Award, the 70-year-old lead vocalist said- “That’s totally unexpected. That’s just a very extra thrill to have that.”

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“They really look at you beyond the simple band that you are. They really dig deep as to this album and that album this song and that song. I think that really supports what we’ve always tried to do,” he added. 

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“I think it validates the real musical adventure that Judas Priest has been on since Rocka Rolla (in 1974). We’re a band that has taken you through many, many different, many dimensions, of metal. We’ve always called ourselves a classic metal band, but we’re a hard band to pin down. One minute we can be your Turbo Lover and then we can be your Painkiller, and how amazing it is for a band to really search for those opportunities within the genre of heavy metal. So I think the acknowledgment of Musical Excellence is a really sweet addition,” Halford concluded.