Ian Hill wants Judas Priest and Iron Maiden tour

Iron Maiden opened for Judas Priest on their UK British Steel Tour in spring 1980, and the following year they supported Priest once again on select US dates of the North American leg of The World Wide Blitz Tour.

As former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing noted last year, before the British Steel Tour had even kicked off, relations between the two bands turned sour thanks to a quote from Maiden’s then vocalist Paul Di’Anno.

“I read in a music paper that (Iron Maiden said) something like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna blow the bollocks off Priest,’ or something like that,” Downing explained to Eddie Trunk.

“And I said, ‘Well, who are these guys?’ Why should we have them on tour if they’re gonna create this type of vibe before we’ve even met them, let alone done a show together?'”

Although things “got a bit ugly” between Priest and Maiden on the US tour in 1981, any tensions between the two bands dissipated decades ago.

In a fresh interview with Audio Ink, Judas Priest’s sole constant member, Ian Hill, was asked if there are any bands they would like to join forces with in the studio or on tour.

“That’s a good question,” Hill replied. “There’s always the big question of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. That would be really interesting if we could get that together before some of us die. It’d be great!”

“There are a lot of other bands we’ve played with. We’ve got Uriah Heep, specials guests on this tour. I was a fan of Uriah Heep way back in the day. They go back at least as long as we do, if not a bit further. You run into these people over the years.

“We’ve played with quite a few of them, but we’ve got to get together with Iron Maiden.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Hill said Judas Priest’s “creative juices are still flowing” and they’re planning to make another album soon.

“We always try to take a step forward with each album – it’s what’s kept us current,” Hill said. “As long as we can improve on (2018’s) ‘Firepower’ – or improve on it as far as we’re concerned – we’ll give it a go.

“There’s some great ideas that weren’t used off the last record and probably another five or six songs (would) probably make an album. So there’s no reason not to give it a go.

“We’re planning to do so as soon as we get the chance, once the touring schedule has slowed down a bit we can make a go of it.”

Judas Priest are special guests on Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tours 2 arena tour in January and February 2020. Tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.

They play the following shows:

JANUARY 2020
Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Fri 31st

FEBRUARY 2020
Dublin 3Arena – Sun 2nd
Manchester Arena – Wed 5th
Newcastle Utilita Arena – Fri 7th
London The O2 – Mon 10th
Glasgow SSE Hydro – Wed 12th
Birmingham Resorts World Arena – Fri 14th

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