Rob Halford Receives Loudwire’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend…

Everyone’s favorite out-and-proud metal icon, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Halford has been open about his sexuality for some time, and still remains a well-respected figurehead in the world of heavy metal. Judas Priest made their splash in the 80s with leather, chains, and motorcycles – things that were actually borrowed from queer fetish culture – and accepted as tropes of heavy metal fashion.

His look, and titles like “Ram it Down” and “Turbo Lover,” weren’t enough to clue the general population off to Halford’s queerness. Even references to Fire Island, the notorious LGBTQ retreat in New York, were completely missed my fans.

Finally he just up and told people he was queer in a live interview.

But where the metal scene may have failed when it comes to gaydar, they are now making up when it comes to acceptance and honor. Halford will receive metal award ceremony Loudwire’s Lifetime Achievement Award on October 24 at the Novo Theater in L.A.

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Addison Herron-Wheeler

Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend to dogs everywhere. She enjoys long walks in the darkness away from any sources of sunlight, rainy days, and painfully dry comedy. She also covers cannabis and heavy metal, and is author of Wicked Woman: Women in Metal from the 1960s to Now and Respirator, a short story collection.