He is the 'Judas Priest' and in his memoir, Rob Halford comes clean about leather. In an interview hyping the new book, Rob says despite what you thought you saw when Priest played the Masonic Temple recently, they were NOT wearing leather. It's tough to keep it clean, like football players', Halford says of the 'leather uniform' of Metal bands, "..if you don't get that thing in the wash, it grows legs of its own.". Priest's frontman since the 70's, Halford recalls PETA scolding them about leather in 2001 way after after they'd switched to Pleather. If it fooled PETA, it certainly was a wardrobe change that their fans were unaware of. It was as much a easy-care decision as it was intent to save animal lives. "You come off stage soaked and wet from pouring your heart, blood, sweat and tears for two hours, pop it into the wash and it's ready for the next night!"
KK Downing had a similar confessional when he was a guest of the Drew & Mike Show in 2019. Asked about the sustainability of wearing leather pants and vests every show, he conceded it was a major hygienic issue, but left unsaid that 'Priest, archetypes of the biker rock look, had pulled the plug on animal skins.Check out that and more stories of Judas Priest in Halford's "Biblical:Rob Halford's Heavy Metal Scriptures". Order it now for your metal lover for Christmas.