KK Downing Announces Concert With Other Former Judas Priest Band Members

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Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has announced his first live concert in almost a decade.

Downing has tapped two former Judas Priest band mates, drummer Les Binks, vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens and Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson to help him perform a set of heavy metal classics on November 3.

The show will take place as Downing's own venue, K.K.'s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, England.

"I am very pleased to have been asked to perform a unique and special concert with Megadeth's Dave Ellefson to celebrate the release of his new book, More Life With Deth," Downing told MetalTalk. "The concert will also bring about the opportunity to play again with some very dear and talented metal legends from the past."

Openers will include Ellefson's solo band and Blaze Bayley. A pre-show VIP event will include a signing with Ellefson and a Q&A with him and Downing.

After leaving Judas Priest in 2011, Downing re-emerged from retirement last year to do press for his memoir, Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest.

He performed live for the first time in nine years this past August at the U.K.'s Bloodstock Open Air festival.

Despite no longer being in the band, Downing has retained his stake in the band in retirement. He publicly sparred with his former band mates after guitarist Glenn Tipton revealed he would be taking a step back due to advancing Parkinson's disease.

Downing was frustrated that he was not invited to rejoin the band, but longtime front man Rob Halford has doubted the band's former guitarist of 41 years ever had interest in touring again.

While Downing's relationship with the band has been strained, Halford still would not rule out a reunion when asked this summer at a Q&A, referencing the fact that he was out of the band from 1992 - 2003.

Photo: Getty Images


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