I've always felt that where Priest has been able to get to, it's been down to discipline, our real love and commitment to making the best music that we can make, and never forgetting our fan base.

When you start in any band, I don't think you have any idea as to how long your particular journey is going to last. You really don't have a clue. I think that when you come together as musicians, that's the furthest thing from your mind.

'Firepower' is the eighteenth full-length studio album for Judas Priest. That's a lot of metal songs over the decades, and the writing process is always the same, really.

We can either rip your face up with 'Painkiller,' or we can play this beautiful thing called 'Last Rose of Summer' from 'Sin After Sin.' And people love us for that because they don't really know what to expect.

I kind of blew the doors off the myth that all heavy metalheads are Neanderthal and very limited in their ability to take on subject matter of any human depth.

You don't fully appreciate your band until you're away from them.

I think the last thing you want in life is to live with regret.

I like to remain somewhat anonymous. I could never handle the whole Britney Spears syndrome of being noticed everywhere.

It's a myth that I received any flak from the metal community over my decision to come out. I have, in fact, received numerous positive responses from fans, as well as e-mails from people who were going through much the same thing. It's horrible to keep something like that secret, and I felt I had to make it public.

I discovered that I was gay when I was about nine or ten. I did go out with girls for a while, but it didn't last.