Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, the legendary “Metal God,” has revealed in a new interview that he secretly married his longtime partner, Thomas, last year in a simple ceremony at their home. He shared the touching story of how, after decades together, his partner had a sudden change of heart about marriage during a “night walk.”
Speaking on the “Queer the Music” podcast with host Jake Shears, the 74-year-old rock icon opened up for the first time about his marriage. He explained that after being together for over 30 years, he had long given up on the idea of getting married.
“I stopped asking, ‘Let’s get married.’ ‘No, I don’t want to get married.’ ‘Oh, let’s just get married. We’ve been together forever.’ ‘No, I don’t want to get married,'” Halford recounted. “And then suddenly on one of our night walks, he goes, ‘I think we should get married.’ [I went] straight home [and got] on the phone to get a pastor.”
The ceremony itself was an intimate and private affair, held at their home beside what Halford lovingly calls “the heavy metal cactus.”
“We got married by the cactus outside on December the something or other, about a year or so ago,” he said. “It was obviously me and him and an officiant… Two of my dearest friends, Jim Silvia, who was Priest‘s [tour] manager forever, and his wife. There were just four of us around the pool… And it was over in an instant. But it was just a beautiful, simple ceremony.”
For Halford, tying the knot after so many years was a significant and meaningful step, even for a long-established relationship.
“Is marriage important? I’ll leave that up to you,” he said. “You decide whether you think a piece of paper is valuable… But for us to tie the knot, it’s just nice. It’s just a nice thing. It seems like you’ve completed something in your relationship, more than anything else. The commitment goes to another level when you get married. It’s a great thing to do. And if it doesn’t work, that’s life. But I think after being together for 35 years, it’s working.”
When asked for the secret to a long and successful relationship, the Metal God offered a simple, practical piece of advice.
“It might sound silly, [but] if one of you cooks dinner, the other one should wash the dishes. You don’t cook dinner and wash the dishes. It has to be 50/50,” he said.
