1971

Schoolmates K.K. Downing and Ian Hill decide to put
together a group. Recruiting vocalist Alan Atkins and
drummer John Ellis, the band-named Judas Priest after a
group Atkins was previously in-sets out on a club tour of
the British Midlands. They were slow on fan support.

K.K. Downing and Ian Hill play their first Judas Priest gig
with original vocalist Alan Atkins on March 16, 1971, at St.
John's Hall in Essington, England. Steady gigging follows
on the local Midlands club circuit.

Priest's first drummer, John Ellis, leaves the band in
October '71 and is replaced by Alan "Skip" Moore. Moore
lasts until the end of the year before being replaced by
Chris "Congo" Campbell.

1972

More touring despite a constant change of
drummers-going through four in less than twelve
months-venturing out of their home territory, Priest actually
manage to land a gig in London.

1972 sees Priest breaking out of their local area and
playing in cities like Manchester, Liverpool, as well as
London. A severe lack of finances will mean the
departures of Atkins and Campbell.

1973

After considering breaking up the band, Ian's girlfriend
-and future wife- Sue Halford, suggests her brother Rob to
fill the group's vocal opening. Halford joins the band,
bringing along drummer John Hinch in the process. They
spend the rest of the year playing club dates up and down
the country with a markedly more metallic sound than
before.

1974

After taking the first few months of the year off, Priest
headlines clubs throughout Germany, Norway and Holland.
One of the gigs attracts the attention of a local record
producer (for Gull Records) who takes the band into the
studio to begin work on their debut LP, Rocka Rolla.

A contract with Gull is signed on April 16. 1974 in London.

To strengthen their sound, the band hires guitarist Glenn
Tipton, a longtime associate of Downing. (The record
company figured that to have four members was a bit
conventional for the band and that being a five member
band would give them more notoriety.)

Priest play a few dates before going into the studio and
then spend three weeks recording the album.

The debut Rocka Rolla Lp is released in Britain on
September 6, 1974. The band is unhappy about the
production, but maintain that the material is strong.

After the album hits the street, the group continues to gig
on a steady basis.

1975

The year is spent touring Europe in support of Rock Rolla,
even though the band is totally dissatisfied with the LP. Of
the album, Rob Halford states; "The way the record was
put on vinyl makes it sound like we recorded it in a
garbage can."

On an up note, Priest manages to land a gig at the
Reading Festival where they impress everyone with their
power and energy.

Drummer John Hinch quits the band after the Reading
show and former skinbeater Alan Moore is reenlisted as
the band prepares material for album #2.

1976

Sad Wings of Destiny is released. It is released on a small
underfinanced label; this puts a great deal of stress on the
band since the company is unable to provide Priest with
any tour support. The band actually had to take day jobs to
make ends meet.

The Sad Wings of Destiny sessions were held at
London's Morgan Studios in December 1975 and was
released in March 1976. They toured extensively in Britain
despite no support from their record company.

The group sticks together during the hard times and is
eventually rewarded with a worldwide deal with
CBS/Columbia.

1977

Having signed the international contract with
CBS/Columbia, the band heads into the studio to record
their third album, Sin After Sin, with Deep Purple bassist
Roger Glover serving as producer. (Drumming for the
band on a temporary basis is Simon Phillips.)

After the release of Sin After Sin in the spring of '77, an
American tour follows.

The most popular in Britain at the time was the Sex Pistols
and there really was no audience for the "heavy metal"
sound, yet the band has a greater acceptance in America
than they do in Britian.

Priest's debut U.S. concert takes place on June 17, 1977,
in Amarillo Texas. The band members find themselves
playing 7-8,000-seat halls opening for REO Speedwagon!
(The only complaint comes from K.K. who says he can't
stand the food!)

Priest's inaugural Stateside outing ends with two exciting
performances with Led Zeppelin at the Oakland Coliseum
in Oakland, California.

1978

Priest's commercial momentum continues with the release
of Stained Class in February of '78.

The band plays U.K. concerts later on that same month
before heading back to the States in March, where they
start off gigging with Foghat. On this tour, Priest will gain
invaluable exposure.

August, 1978, marks the band's first appearances in
Japan.

After Japan, the group completes a new studio record with
producer James Guthrie. Titled Killing Machine in the U.K.,
the Lp is released in Britain in October '78 with a British
tour coinciding with its release.

1979

The Killing Machine album comes out in the States under
the title Hell Bent For Leather and includes an extra track,
"The Green Manalishi." A 45-date U.S. tour commences
on February 27, 1979, and lasts through May 6.

Priest enjoy their first British hit single with Take On The
World, and tour the world, including the orient, in support
of their breakthrough LP, Hell Bent For Leather. While the
commercial success isn't imminent upon it's release, it
helps to solidify the band's look and sound as one of the
most potent forces in the rock world.

During the summer of '79, Priest mix the tapes for a live
album at Ringo Starr's studio in Ascot, England. Drummer
Les Binks leaves the band. Arriving to fill his slot is Dave
Holland.

Unleashed In The East hits record stores in September
while the band is on the road with Kiss. A series of
headline North America dates follows and 1979 finally
ends with the group trekking through Europe with AC/DC.

1980

The band records British Steel during the early months of
1980 and the album is released in the last week of a
March U.K. tour, entering the British charts at number
three.

The album will get considerable airplay in the States. A
successful road stint results in the record being certified
gold by the RIAA.

Priest play at the first Castle Donnington "Monsters Of
Rock" festival.

In the fall of 1980, the band heads off to the
Mediterranean island of Ibiza to record a new studio LP.

1981

Point Of Entry surfaces in the spring of '81 and has
different sleeve designs in Europe and the States. Some
will claim disappointment in Point Of Entry due to the
album's more progressive approach. Still, it proves to be
one of their most successful records.

A world tour kicks off in February and keeps Priest on the
road until November. During a brief summer break, the
group starts working on material for the next album.

1982

After spending much of 1981 on tour, the band allows
itself more time to record over the next few months and
sessions are held in Ibiza once again. The mixes are
completed in Miami and Screaming For Vengeance finally
emerges in the summer of '82. The band supports the
album with a nine-month world tour, which sees them
criss-crossing the United States for six months. (The
American tour kicked off on August 26, 1982 in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.)

The hard work pays off. Screaming For Vengeance is
eventually certified platinum and with that, Priest finally
begins to receive the respect they deserve.

1983

Priest takes 1983 a bit easier.

Screaming For Vengeance proves to be the band's
barrier-breaking success. Their tour winds up in the spring,
and the group members begin writing material for their
next LP.

Over Memorial Day Weekend in May, the band performs in
front of over 300,000 fans at the California US Festival.

Priest's affairs are now being handled by top manager Bill
Curbishley.

The group spends the rest of '83 working on a new album
with Tom Allom, who has established himself as an
excellent producer for Priest.

1984

The group's next album, Defenders Of The Faith , fails to
generate immediate press and fan support equal to that of
its predecessor. While the album helps Priest cement
their position as the godfathers of metal's latest
resurgence--a movement led by the likes of Ratt and
Motley Crue, who both sight Priest as a major
influence--they are met with unexpected resistence by
their usually loyal following.

After finishing the new album in December, Priest appear
at a heavy metal rock festival in Dortmund, West Germany,
and also film the "Freewheel Burning" video in London.

The band is in Europe as Defenders Of The Faith hits the
street. On March 16, another marathon tour of the States
kicks off in Niagara Falls.

The Defenders Of The Faith tour winds up in Japan and in
October '84, Glenn, Rob and K.K. start working on new
material in Marbella, Spain.

1985

This was a quiet year with no album releases or tours, and
Priest reflected back on the whirlwind activity of the past
few years. From February to early spring, they took their
time recording the next album, in the enviable
surroundings of Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas.
Digital recording techniques had just been introduced, and
producer Tom Allom and the band were intent on using it
to enhance the overall sound capabilities of the new
album.

Meanwhile, the ambitious young skinsman, Scott Travis,
from Norfolk, Virginia, was in the process of moving to Los
Angeles to join a band called Racer X...

1986

After their long sabbatical they released their eleventh
album, Turbo in March. Still not managing to surpass the
quality and venom of "Screaming For Vengeance", the
album received even more mixed reactions than "Point Of
Entry". The old fans didn't much approve of the
introduction of electronic effects and synth guitars. Priest
did, however, succeed to draw new fans to the band as
"Turbo" was in keeping with Eighties style metal and the
album reached no. 33 in England but only stayed in the
charts for four weeks.

In May the band set off on their worldwide "Turbo - Fuel
For Life" tour, visiting almost everywhere except Britain.
Halford started displaying eccentric (for a rock star)
behaviour and insisted on travelling the entire German leg
by train.

1987

"Fuel For Life"'s massive set of eighteen songs was
captured on the Priest...Live! double platter released in
June and later also on the "Priest...Live!" video. The album
only made it to no. 47 in the charts mainly because Priest
hadn't visited Britain since 1984, and the U.K. audience
were starting to forget what the band looked like and, with
the emergence of thrash and speed metal, they were
beginning to look elsewhere for their thrills.

1988

With the remake of the Chuck Berry classic "Johnny B
Goode" for the movie "Johnny Be Good", Priest's british
fans found new interest for the band. The press, however,
were less enthustiastic about Priest's return, regarding
them as "has-beens" and "irrelevant to today's music". The
new album Ram It Down , released in May, though not
revolutionary in content, did achive a no. 24 position in the
album charts, reflecting Priest's slow but sure return to
homebase, and their international tour this year also
included Britain.

1989

After completing another gruelling European and
American tour, drummer Dave Holland, troubled by family
illness, quit Priest. In the meantime, Los Angeles band
Racer X had split up leaving drummer Scott Travis open to
offers. Rob Halford had been familiar with RacerX for a
number of years so when Rob asked Scott Travis about
joining Priest it was a dream come true for Scott - the
Priest fan who asked for Glenn's autograph on the
"Screaming For Vengeance" tour of 1982.

1990

The new decade began and Priest started rehearsing with
their new dynamic drummer for their first album in two
years. They pre-produced all the songs in their rehearsal
studio in Spain and when they had the whole album they
band flew over to Holland to lay down the tracks. Although
"Painkiller" could have been released early in 1990, the
release date had to be set back as certain events
unfolded in the Reno courts.

The parents of two Priest fans, James Vance and
Raymond Belknap, who died in a suicide pact had decided
to blame the tragedy on the band themselves. They
claimed that subliminal messages uttered on the backward
play of "Better By You Better Than Me" from the "Stained
Class" album had spurred the teenagers on to commit
suicide. Priest had now to face the naked hostility of the
parents and their lawyers and also cancel the planned
European tour. The bottom line was that the Vances and
the Belknaps were claiming $6.2 million damages from
Priest for their sons' suicides.

After weeks of courtroom drama, during which time the
media coverage escalated, Judge Jerry Whitehead ruled
that Priest were in no way responsible for the boys'
deaths. The most important, and saddest, reason for this
decision was that both teenagers had been brought up in
violent and deprived surroundings, had failed in school,
and had been taking drugs and were severly depressed
on the day of their suicide pact.

A relieved but shattered Priest left the Nevada courtroom
in August and their delayed career continued with the
release of "Painkiller" in September, and a barnstorming
US tour in October.

1991

The "Painkiller" tour moves on to Europe and a
sensational performance at Rock In Rio II in Brazil, which
proved that Priest was still capable of "Pounding the world
like a battering ram" after all these years.

1992

Vocalist Rob Halford shocks the fans and the rest of the
band declaring that he want's to leave Priest and pursue a
solo career. Taking drummer Scott Travis with him, Halford
starts the band Fight.

1993

Fight releases the debut album "War Of Words" and CBS
releases a double-album called Metal Works with 32
songs selected by the Priest members (including Halford).

Priest is still left disabled without a vocalist and the
question arises if this is the end of Judas Priest?

1994

Another year passes without news about the band.

1995

The band starts looking for a new vocalist by advertising in
magazines. The response is overwhelming; over a
thousand applicants from all over the world are interested
in trying to fill the gap after Halford. After some intense
listening to all the singers, the band comes down to about
thirty possible candidates.

Glenn and K.K. begins to write material for a new album.

Scott Travis comes back to Priest when Fight is broken up
and the news about the new album reaches him.

1996

One day in March, Scott Travis brings a videotape to the
studio. They play it, and are stunned. The man they're
looking at is Tim Owens, a 28 year old vocalist from Akron,
Ohio, and they have never seen or heard anyone like him
before. He is brought over to England to do an audition,
and by just singing the first verse of "Victim Of Changes",
Glenn stops the tape and tells him "OK, you've got the
job!". The band has found the one they were looking for
and starts the recording of the new album which is titled
"Jugulator".

Glenn Tipton starts recording his first solo album "Baptizm
Of Fire" together with, among others, Cozy Powell, Robert
Trujillo, Billy Sheehan and John Entwhistle. Originally,
Tipton only intended to play the guitar on the album, but
after some attempts on the vocals, he decides to do the
singing too.

1997

"Baptizm Of Fire" is released in February and gets well
recieved by the critics. Meanwhile the work on "Jugulator"
continues...

Originally supposed to be released in May, the album is
delayed until the end of October. Seven years of silence
from the band is now broken.