Judas Priest’s Rob Halford has released the lyric video for “Morning Star” from his new Christmas-themed album Celestial.
The LP was released last week and offers fans a rare opportunity to hear a different side of Halford than what you might expect from the heavy metal frontman.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Halford spoke about the new album and his decision to collaborate with family members on it. “I do love the Christmastime, the holiday season,” Halford – who also released Halford III: Winter Songs in 2009 – explained. “It’s a very personal thing for me – family, sweaters, a Christmas cap, the whole thing.” So, it was only natural for him to invite family to participate in the process of making a Christmas album. The Celestial album is billed as Rob Halford with Family and Friends and includes his brother Nigel on drums, sister Sue on bells and nephew Alex Hill, son of Priest’s Ian Hill, playing bass like his father.
“In the back of my mind I was always waiting and wondering if there would be an opportunity to work with these guys,” Halford said. “It’s great, man. As we were making this, I was doing a little bit of looking around and I don’t think anything’s been done of this nature on a holiday record before. Maybe the Osmonds did it, or the Partridge family, not a heavy metal Halford holiday family affair like this. It’s very rare, and it’s a lovely feeling because the holidays are all about that, all about family and friends.”
“Morning Star” is one of four new songs Halford penned for Celestial – which also includes such Christmas classics as “Joy to the World,” “God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. “I’m always looking for a moment of expression that is a little bit different,” Halford said. “I just love the message, the whole idea of the star in the night around Bethlehem and so forth. It’s a really nice story. My family has always been a faith-based family, but not a go-to-church-every-Sunday family. But the basic principle of what we believe in has always been there, and that side of me has grown exponentially as I’ve gotten older.”
Halford added that he recognizes that his music is “immortal, but I know I’m not, so there’s a lot of that wrapped up in this record as well, a lot of emotional components coming through the speakers of Celestial.”
