‘CONFESS: The Autobiography‘ is a compelling memoir by Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford. It’s about the band’s journey as it soared to the top, to rule the roost in heavy metal – and his travails as a closet gay man during this meteoric rise.
This brilliant memoir is fascinating. And human. A story written straight from the heart.
As I wrap up my own memoir on training as a heart surgeon, I’m amazed at the astounding similarities and serendipities that crop up when you grow a career and follow your passion.
I want to be screaming my tits off forever! Singing is my mental release, my purpose, my meaning. I only feel truly, fully alive when I am onstage and singing with Judas Priest. The joy that I feel when I do it is extraordinary. Nothing else comes close.
What do heart surgeons and rock stars have in common?
Well, there’s the incredible hard work that goes on unseen, behind the scenes, for one.
Halford says:
“This was our moment. We had built up a following as we slogged our guts out across the States over the last five years, and now we suddenly had a hit song blaring out of TV screens and drive-time radio programs. We had reached our tipping point.”
Five years.
Slogged our guts out.
Reached our tipping point.
Yup!
Sounds about right.
That’s what it takes to reach a stage when everyone else notices you and says…
“Wow! That guy’s got it made. How LUCKY he is!”
And then there’s the parts uniquely perks of being a rock star!
Some parts of this memoir are so fantastic that even to just imagine being a part of it is mind-boggling. It’s a chance to live vicariously through the eyes of a celebrity.
Standing in the wings of the sold-out Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, I was shitting myself. Ten thousand fans were screaming for Priest… and I would rather have been anywhere else but there. The auditorium lights went down. The crowd roared. I walked to the mic. And something happened.
Something precious and real. As soon as I opened my mouth and started to sing, I felt something I had never felt onstage before. I had nothing getting in the way of my expression: no alcohol, no chemicals. I felt that most intense, sacred natural high: the great joy and sensation of the human voice.
But the real story of Confess is one of coming to terms with his own sexuality… and then coming out in public.
And that’s just as achingly painful, just as soul-searching and testing for a rock star as for anyone else.
I. Was. Out.
The years of angst were over. It was like when I stopped drinking and drugging—the lies and pretence had gone. I had liberated myself from self-imprisonment and nothing could hurt me again. I was gay, and I had told the world. It was done.
Confess is a stark, blunt and brutal story of a man who rose to the top – and paid the price for it. A man who hid his true self from the world, and even from himself – before realizing that was a price too high for anyone.
And then, he came out.
This is his confession.
We’re all better people for having read about it.
Oh, and don’t miss listening to ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming‘