Rob Halford explains why he won’t be at Black Sabbath’s final show

Black Sabbath will play their final show next July 5 in their hometown Birmingham and many Heavy Metal were asking why Judas Priest or Rob Halford were not featured among the special guests. The Metal God explained in an interview with Metal Hammer why he is “gutted” that he can’t be part of the special show.

Halford was Black Sabbath‘s vocalist twice: once in the ’90s, when he replaced Ronnie James Dio (who refused to be Ozzy’s opening act), and again in the early 2000s, when he filled in for Ozzy due to health issues. Both times, he was asked at the last minute to cover for the singers so the shows wouldn’t be canceled.

Rob Halford explains why he won’t be at Black Sabbath’s final show

“I had no idea (the final show) was happening. It all got announced and was a big deal — (the Hannover concert featuring) Scorpions and Priest. Suddenly I get this phone call (from Sharon Osbourne): ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys. He’d love to see you.'”

“Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems. I was absolutely gutted.”

He noted that at least K.K. Downing, former Judas Priest guitarist will be there and he will kind of represent the band.”All my mates are going to be there though, great bands and artists. It’s a wonderful and epic moment for Sabbath and Heavy Metal — it re-emphasizes that Birmingham is where metal came from.”

Like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest was also formed in Birmingham and in 1969, only one year after Sabbath. However, they had the chance to release their debut album only in 1974 and achieve fame by the late 70s, being often labeled as one of the bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.