Latest news with #RobHalford
Hype Malaysia
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hype Malaysia
BABYMETAL Announces 'WORLD TOUR 2025-2026' In Asia; Malaysia & Singapore Included
Mosh'sh Mates, get ready — BABYMETAL (ベビーメタル) is returning to Asia with their 'WORLD TOUR 2025-2026' – with Malaysia and Singapore confirmed in the roster! The energy is building as fans prepare for their signature mix of metal power and unforgettable live shows. This tour promises to bring the same electrifying force that has captivated audiences worldwide. Kicking off their tour in South Korea this September, they will hit cities including Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. With their last 'WORLD TOUR' in Asia going back in 2023, the hype has only grown since the announcement was released. Fans across Asia can prepare for a powerful return as THE ONE rises once again — louder and stronger than ever. BABYMETAL is a Japanese band that blends heavy metal with J-pop idol music. The three original members of the band, consisting of Su-metal, Moametal, and Yuimetal, created a unique style known as 'kawaii metal.' They gained global attention with viral hits like 'Gimme Chocolate!!' and 'Karate', showcasing intense choreography and energetic performances. They have performed with legends like Metallica, Guns N' Roses, and Rob Halford of Judas Priest. In 2016, they became the first Japanese band to headline Wembley Arena in London. Their success has made them global ambassadors of a new genre, blending idol pop with heavy metal. This upcoming concert marks the group's return to Malaysia since their last appearance last year in August. As such, local Mosh'sh Mates are already buzzing with excitement. Here is what we know so far about the upcoming concerts: BABYMETAL 'WORLD TOUR 2025-2026' in Malaysia: Date: 6th October 2025 (Monday) 6th October 2025 (Monday) Venue: ZEPP Kuala Lumpur ZEPP Kuala Lumpur Ticketing: TBA BABYMETAL 'WORLD TOUR 2025-2026' in Singapore: Date: 4th October 2025 (Saturday) 4th October 2025 (Saturday) Venue: F1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX F1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX Ticketing: TBA For more information and updates, such as the tickets and seating plans, keep an eye out in this space. You can also visit and follow their official social media. Are you excited to see these girls in action? Source: Instagram Zaima Humaira contributed to this article
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Judas Priest rose above darkness and death to make Turbo, their most divisive album
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Thanks to albums such as British Steel and Screaming For Vengeance, Judas Priest had ascended to metal's premier division by the mid-80s. But they hit a bump in the road with 1986's Turbo, an album that saw the veteran band trying out new technology but left many fans cold . In 2017, singer Rob Halford and bassist Ian Hill looked back on the darkness and tragedy that shaped their most divisive record. Turbo is the sore thumb in the Judas Priest catalogue. Received wisdom pitches it somewhere between a cynical sell-out with one eye on the pop market and outright career suicide. Neither is true. Turbo may have been a departure on the surface, but at heart it was a classic Priest album. On a commercial level, it was far from a flop thanks to mainstream American radio and MTV picking up on the singles Turbo Lover, Locked In and the anti-censorship broadside Parental Guidance. 'It lost us some friends,' says Priest bassist Ian Hill, a mainstay of the band since their very beginning in Birmingham at the end of the 1960s. 'But it made us as least as many as we'd lost.' Priest were coming off the back of a stellar run of success when they began work on Turbo. While their late-70s and early-80s albums had enshrined them as one of Britain's pre-eminent metal bands, the platinum-plated one-two of 1982's Screaming For Vengeance and '84's Defenders Of The Faith had turned them into bona fide rock stars in America. 'We were on top of the world,' says Rob, a man whose drily lugubrious manner is amusingly at odds with his Metal God persona. 'After slogging away for years, we'd suddenly reached that place all bands strive to get to, which is success. It was an amazing time, not only for Priest but for metal in general.' After touring Defenders Of The Faith, the band gave themselves a much-needed break. When they reconvened in Marbella in southern Spain in early 1985, they were keen to throw themselves back into the fray. But the last thing they wanted to do was merely repeat past glories. 'Some people would have been absolutely over the moon if we'd done another Defenders Of The Faith,' says Ian. 'But we felt like we'd reached the end of the line with that. Some bands get a formula and they stick to it, and people love them for it. But we've always moved forwards.' As they soaked up the sun in Marbella, they began to realise that things had changed since they had been away. Launched just a few years earlier, MTV had become a music industry powerhouse with the power to make or break bands. Many of Priest's peers had latched onto this and altered their approach to fit this revolutionary new format, chief among them ZZ Top and Billy Idol, who had begun incorporating the latest technology into their sound and serving up eye-catching videos to fit in the heavy rotation slots. 'We were definitely aware of what was going on with MTV,' says Rob. 'It was a gamechanger. It totally changed the face of music, which probably had some influence on the general outcome of Turbo.' Understandably, when electronic instrument company Roland approached Priest to see if they would be interested in being the people to try out a brand new guitarsynthesizer they had developed, the band jumped at the chance. 'It basically took the straightforward sound that you normally get if you plug a guitar into a Marshall amp, but let you alter the sound completely,' says Rob. 'It could give you a non-guitar sound. That was at the heart of Turbo. And that, I think, was part of the pushback from the purists in metal: 'Why are you messing with the sound? That's not the Priest we want to hear.'' The band weren't oblivious to the ramifications of what they were planning when they flew to the Bahamas to begin work on the album at Nassau's Compass Point Studios with longtime producer 'Colonel' Tom Allom, but they were still determined to push forward. It wasn't the only radical decision they had made. The original plan was that the new album would be a double, titled Twin Turbos. 'We wanted a double album for the price of a single one,' says Ian. 'The label weren't happy about that. They couldn't manufacture the album and flog it for what we wanted them to sell it for. So about halfway through the writing process, we decided to go with it as a single album.' Some of the tracks written for Twin Turbos would appear on their next album, 1988's Ram It Down, while others would feature as bonus tracks on subsequent reissues. But clashes with their record label were the least of Rob's worries. The singer had his own battles to deal with. Ask him today what someone might have seen if they'd have walked in halfway through the sessions, and he laughs drily. 'I'd probably have been in the corner with a bottle of Jack Daniel's and a mound of coke,' he says. 'I was out of my fucking tree. That's where I was at personally. It was a point where I needed help. I don't know how the guys coped with me.' 'We all went over the top in the 80s,' says Ian. 'If you weren't going over the top, there was something wrong. But we didn't realise quite how far gone Rob was.' Rob's state of mind wasn't helped by the exotic location. 'There were tremendous distractions,' he says. 'We'd start work at six o'clock at night, then Tom Allom would have his gin and tonic and that was the end of the session. We'd all go down the pub and get loaded. We had to get the hell out of the Bahamas. Somebody said, 'Why don't we go to Miami instead?' Oh yeah, great idea. 'Cos there were no distractions there either. Ha ha ha, oh my god.' Instead, the band moved their base of operations to Los Angeles. It was there that Rob checked into rehab. 'I came out after 30 days and my life had changed in a million ways,' he says. 'The important part was my ability to understand that music is the most important thing in my life and that I don't need any other chemical influence to do what I need to do.' He may have been clean and sober, but life had one more tragic twist to throw at him. In 1986, Rob's boyfriend at the time killed himself in front of the singer. He's reluctant to talk about specifics, but his voice takes on an understandably solemn note when he recalls the impact it had on his life. 'I was with someone who was also dealing with their own self-destructive challenges,' he says. 'That was my pledge, in the memory of that person, to stay clean and sober. In fact, I just passed my 31st birthday last week. But drug addiction and alcoholism is like a curse, man. Bands ask me about the drink and the drugs, and I say, 'Fucking do it, it's a rite of passage – I hope you have a good time with it and I hope it doesn't kill you.' Because it can, and it does.' Ironically, given Rob's own personal turmoil, Turbo is resolutely uplifting, defiant and even sex-obsessed. It's there in the titles: Turbo Lover; Hot For Love; Reckless; Wild Nights, Hot And Crazy Days. Even the album's cover illustration of a woman's hand clutching a gear stick is a barely disguised visual innuendo. It also features Parental Guidance, a winking dig at the PMRC, the censorship group who had included Priest's song Eat Me Alive on their so-called 'Filthy Fifteen' – a list of songs that they claimed threatened the moral fabric of America. The PMRC successfully campaigned to put 'Parental Guidance' stickers on albums containing explicit material. 'We couldn't believe our ears when we heard about it,' says Rob. 'It's one of those things that only happens in America. I remember the day we said, 'We should write a song called Parental Guidance. Take a walk in my shoes and see what you're afraid of – it's not real. As it turns out, Turbo was a commercial success, one of the biggest ones Priest had. So the PMRC thing didn't have any knock-on effect.' That commercial success must have seemed a long way off when the album was released in April 1986. Initial reactions in the press were at best baffled and at worst outright hostile. More importantly, its synthesized sounds alienated a chunk of their fanbase who wanted Priest's traditional steel-plated twin guitar attack. 'It was a bit of a kick in the balls. It's not nice to make a record and somebody goes, 'This is shit.' But this is the balancing act – you have to write from the heart, for yourself. You need the opportunity to express yourself and bang into things when you do.' Age has been kind to Turbo. Its unconventional approach may have scared the horses at the time, but today it sounds shockingly modern. And its opening four tracks – Turbo Lover, Locked In, Private Property and Parental Guidance – are stone cold pop-metal classics, guitar-synths or not. 'It was a grand experiment,' says Ian. 'We weren't sure what the reaction would be, but we believed we were doing the right thing. And that's why it's honest.' 'The original kickback has mellowed over the years,' adds Rob. 'People appreciate it now for the songs. They've embraced it. We could bang out any of those tracks live now and they'd do the business. Judas Priest are this band that has many metal heads attached to its shoulders, and Turbo has become part of the legend.' Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 281, February 2017
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Judas Priest's Decades-Old Concert Gives The Band A New Bestseller
Judas Priest's Live in Atlanta '82 debuts at No. 40 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart, giving the ... More metal legends a seventeenth career entry. British heavy metal group Judas Priest perform onstage at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, June 14, 1984. Pictured are, from left, guitarist KK Downing, singer Rob Halford, and guitarist Glenn Tipton. (Photo by) Judas Priest is back with another bestseller in America — though not in the way that most artists collect big wins. The metal legends only just returned with a brand new full-length studio effort, Invincible Shield, a little over a year ago, and while some may have assumed a long break in between drops was coming, the band had a different plan. Instead of dropping another typical studio project, the group took part in this year's Record Store Day celebration and offered up something longtime fans have been craving: a standalone release of a classic live show that had never been available in this format. The strategy worked. Once Live in Atlanta '82 became available, fans rushed out to grab their copies — and they immediately gave Judas Priest another huge success in the U.S. Live in Atlanta '82 manages to perform well enough to reach a single Billboard ranking this week. The full-length collection arrives at No. 40 on the Top Album Sales chart, barely squeaking onto the roster of bestsellers in the U.S. inside the top 40. That showing is based solely on pure purchases, as the tally doesn't incorporate streams or any other consumption metrics. According to Luminate, Judas Priest's latest offering sold just under 4,400 copies in its first few days of availability. Considering it's a live set from more than 40 years ago, and a reissue at that, that's a solid total. With Live in Atlanta '82, Judas Priest claims its seventeenth placement on the Top Album Sales chart. Out of all those showings, only three have made it into the top 10. The band's highest peak on the ranking remains No. 2. The group first reached that position in 2018 with Firepower and matched just last year with Invincible Shield. This week's Top Album Sales chart is particularly packed, thanks to the annual Record Store Day sales event. 28 projects debut for the first time on the 50-position roster. Among those, Judas Priest lands the twenty-second loftiest debut of the week. The metal pioneers are edged out by several other rock legends, including Rage Against the Machine, Talking Heads, David Bowie, The Doors, and the Grateful Dead, among others. The material featured on Live in Atlanta '82 won't be unfamiliar to the band's diehards. Superfans will recognize the set from its original inclusion in the massive box set 50 Heavy Metal Years of Music, which arrived years ago. Until now, it was only available on CD, buried inside the expansive collection. For Record Store Day, Judas Priest finally issued Live in Atlanta '82 as a standalone release — and gave it a proper vinyl treatment. The double LP was pressed on bright red wax, making it a collector's item for fans who had been hoping for a vinyl version ever since the concert first surfaced.
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Judas Priest's Decades-Old Live Album Is Finally A Chart Success
Judas Priest's Live in Atlanta '82 debuts at No. 13 on the U.K.'s Rock & Metal Albums chart, giving ... More the band its second new win of 2025. English singer Rob Halford, of the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, sings on stage during the 1982 World Vengeance tour at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, September 25, 1982. (Photo by) Judas Priest has been busy in 2025 — not necessarily with brand new music, but by digging into the vault and offering fans what they've been craving: vintage material that still sounds as powerful today as it did decades ago. The legendary metal act is back on the charts in the United Kingdom at the moment with Live in Atlanta '82, a release that was recorded more than 40 years ago, as its title suggests. Judas Priest returns to the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart in the U.K. with Live in Atlanta '82. The project blasts onto the ranking at No. 13 on the genre-specific roster that only tracks the bestselling titles in rock and metal across the nation. Including Live in Atlanta '82, Judas Priest now claims 16 total appearances on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart. It's the band's second new win of 2025 alone. Just a few months back in February, Rocka Rolla reentered the conversation when it was reissued and made available again. That full-length originally arrived in 1974, and while it wasn't new by any stretch, it was new to the U.K.-based list, as fans of the group sent it to No. 7, though it did disappear just one frame after arriving inside the top 10. Like many of the titles that launch this week in the U.K., Live in Atlanta '82 is a Record Store Day exclusive. The performance was recorded on December 11, 1982, during a stop on the band's World Vengeance Tour. The music had previously only been available on CD as part of the 50 Heavy Metal Years of Music box set, which limited access for some fans. Now, for the first time, the concert has been issued as a standalone release. This week's Official Rock & Metal Albums chart is absolutely packed. An incredible 15 new titles debut, which makes any appearance — even one outside the top 10 — feel like a win. Live in Atlanta '82 lands at No. 13, and yet it is still the ninth-highest arrival of the bunch. Judas Priest trails genre peers like Yes, Motörhead, and Black Sabbath, as well as a somewhat surprising name: Post Malone.
