It’s not just the pop fans who love Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. Turns out their music also appeals to one of the most iconic heavy metal singers of all time.
In an interview with The Houston Chronicle, Rob Halford, the frontman for British metal band Judas Priest, was asked what he’s been listening to lately. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer replied, “Chappell [Roan] is amazing. I turned on to Gaga instantly. Her talent is just extraordinary. And she says she’s a huge fan of Chappell. The way that the torch is passed from performer to performer, artist to artist, it’s a beautiful thing to do.”
Halford, whose nickname is The Metal God, added, “What’s remarkable about people like Gaga or Taylor Swift is their longevity … pop songs can be gigantic, and then you’ll never hear them again. But then you’ll get a Madonna or a Cher or a Gaga, or hopefully Chappell or a Taylor Swift. The way they craft their music, it becomes immortal. I’ll still be banging my head to ‘Paparazzi’ on my deathbed.”
“I don’t know whether it’s because I’m a gay man and I just have this joy and love of all things creative and arts, I absorb it. I don’t believe in barriers,” Halford noted.
He concluded, “I think that all music is a feast. All of it touches me in various ways. And I translate all of that into my own work.”
Halford’s willingness to embrace other music genres was clear a few years ago at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, when he duetted with Dolly Parton.
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