George Varga of SignOnSanDiego.com recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST/HALFORD frontman Rob Halford. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

SignOnSanDiego.com: Does it feel like the start of a new chapter with the second decade of the HALFORD band starting, and the looming end of an old chapter, with JUDAS PRIEST having recently announced its farewell tour in 2011?

Halford: I suppose the way I perceive my life as a musician is that I'll just continue doing what I've always done. Of course, the bulk of my metal life has been with JUDAS PRIEST, and, yes, we are making this farewell tour next year and probably into 2012. But we do have a few more things we want to say. What we'd rather do, for the time being, is let this information settle, because its very big news for a lot of fans. So, we want to let the firestorm settle down. For all intents and purposes, it is the farewell tour.

SignOnSanDiego.com: Why?

Halford: I don't know, really. It really is for a lot of reasons. I suppose retirement or slowing down, if you want to call it that, I don't know. I think you have to face mortality, that's for sure. Some bands keep going and going, some bands ease off a bit, and some bands stop altogether. It happens to all bands, eventually, and now this is something we're facing in JUDAS PRIEST. So, what we want to do is leave on what we feel are respectable terms, musically.

SignOnSanDiego.com: But JUDAS PRIEST is still playing well and sounding good and continues to be popular around much of the world. Why quit now?

Halford: It's what I call the "Muhammad Ali syndrome." If you get in the ring too much, the whole thing can become really sad to look at and listen to. And you have to ensure that doesn't happen as a musician, especially in the extreme world of heavy metal, because it's very demanding to carry these old bodies all over the place. You try to do the things you could easily do 30 years ago and it's not so easy. What we would like our fans to do is consider that this something to celebrate and not feel sad or depressed about. It won't be all over in a flash.

SignOnSanDiego.com: Does this mean you'll be cutting back from performing with the HALFORD band, too?

Halford: I don't really know. Again, in regards to the comment I made regarding making sure you can go into it and give the kind of performance you do, without letting the fans down — I'm having a great time. Vocally, I'm very strong; I have a lot of energy and I'm doing all the things that are important. So, it's only right to treat both bands respectfully and differently. So, my intention, no matter where I go and what I do, is to keep making metal on personal level.

Read the entire interview from SignOnSanDiego.com.