Judas Priest’s Rob Halford celebrates 32 years of being clean and sober

Posting a photo of himself on Facebook wearing a rather fetching cat t-shirt and throwing the sign of the horns, Rob said: “Maniacs today is my 32nd year of being clean and sober. One day at a time.

“Each one of you are in my life and your love and support encourages and helps me to live in the moment and try to do my best for you. Thank you all.”

Rob has been sober since entering rehab following a painkiller overdose in January 1986.

He has stated in several interviews that hiding his sexuality during Priest’s early career led to depression and isolation that fuelled his alcohol and drug abuse.

“My daily routine was, I would get up around six in the evening and slug down some big bottles of whatever just to get out of bed,” Rob told VH1’s Behind The Music in 2001.

“I was ripping phones off the walls, trying to drive drunk, just a really obnoxious, hateful son of a bitch. I just hit those moments of such complete despair and confusion.”

In a 2016 interview with Washington Times, Rob said he would undoubtedly have died if he hadn’t cleaned his act up.

“Without (sobriety) I’d be dead. Literally, I’d be dead. I wouldn’t be here. The place where I got to, the next step was lost.

“I love people. I love being in a band. I love making music. I had to figure out that that was way more important than being addicted.”

You can watch the video for ‘Lightning Strike’, the first single from Judas Priest’s upcoming album ‘Firepower’, right here.