Judas Priest's Rob Halford starts work on 'Lord of The Rings-esque' memoir

In a fresh interview with New Zealand’s Stuff ahead of Judas Priest’s one-off concert at the Spark Arena in Auckland later this month, Rob said he’s finally started his memoir.

"(The book has) been rattling around in my head forever,” he explained. “As you move on in life and have had the wonderful good luck, fortune and gratefulness to spend 50 years in a glorious band like Judas Priest, the main thing is you want to be to tell your side of the story from the horse's mouth, as opposed to something that has been knocked up by somebody else from a bunch of interviews and so forth.”

Rob continued: "Just because of the way I am and because I'm the lyricist of the band – a bit like my mate Bruce (Dickinson) – I think mine will end up like The Lord of the Rings. Between my early childhood, adolescent years and the place where I'm at now, I think we're talking about three heavy metal tomes."

Asked if Judas Priest would ever bring their story to the big screen like Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the 67-year-old metal legend replied: "I think Judas Priest has had a very interesting life.

"We've certainly got some stories to tell. We've certainly had a lot of incidents on the road that's for sure. I also had to hide a gay guy like Freddie (Mercury) for all those years."

Answering who would play him in the hypothetical biopic, Rob added: “Who could be the 'metal god'? I haven't got a clue. I thought Rami (Malek) did a fantastic job of Freddie's persona, charisma. But I'm sure there's another actor out there who could get the leather and whips and chains on."

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging chat, Rob expressed his relief that Ozzy Osbourne is on the road to recovery following his bout of pneumonia.

Ozzy, of course, had to postpone all his gigs in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan featuring special guests Judas Priest – on doctors’ orders.

Commenting on his friend, Rob said: "Obviously we're so relieved that Ozzy is getting better now. It was so scary for us and his family and fans and everyone, so we are so happy at his recovery. We knew about as much as anybody did.

“Obviously, when it is an illness like this, it's a very private matter because it affects the immediate family so strongly. But the big thing is that he's on the road to recovery and I'm sure he'll come back and see his fans in New Zealand when he's able."

Ozzy said his European dates with Judas Priest are being rescheduled for the autumn.