J. Bennett of Decibel magazine (web site) recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Decibel: Tell me about the day you decided to shave your head.

Rob Halford: "I don't think anybody's ever asked me that one. [Laughs] You know, this is so bizarre because I had a dream last night that I had really, really long hair! I think it was because I watched a MADONNA video before I went to bed. It must've started me thinking about follicles again. I was dreaming about having massive amounts of hair and all the crazy things you can do with it. But, anyway, what happened was that it was rapidly receding and kind of going off in its own direction — and the last thing I wanted to do was become a Hair Club for Men member. By the time we got to 'Painkiller', I was already into the as-shortly-cropped-as-possible mode, so really, I think it was by '93 or '94 that the lot went off. I think I started a bit of a fashion trend, because lots of metal singers have bald pates now."

Decibel: How old is too old to be playing metal?

Rob Halford: "We've got an agreement in the band. We don't really talk about it, but I think if we had the notion it was all over for whatever reason, that'd be the end of it. It's also a matter of going onstage and being able to deliver the goods. If ever a moment came that we felt that was diminishing, we'd seriously consider the consequences. But if you start thinking that way, you start winding down — and that's the last thing you can afford to do to yourself. We're just gonna let time take its course — we'll know. You'll never see us on our third farewell tour of the world or something."

Decibel: Do you ever read what people are saying about PRIEST on the message boards?

Rob Halford: "Well, it depends on the mood. I have to say in all honesty that 99.9 percent of the time I don't, because I'm a very emotional person and if I see something that pisses me off, I'll rattle off a response. And I don't believe in giving people the power to do that to me, so for the most part, I just let people be stupid if they need to be stupid. You know, we've got a page up on myspace.com, and it's amusing to see what people are saying — there's always that please-get-a-life person, but you just let those things go."

Decibel: Is there any PRIEST song you wish would just go away?

Rob Halford: "[Laughs] Well, you know, everything has been released to the fans with the endorsement of everybody in the band. So… I don't know. I don't think there's anything from the past that I tend to flinch and grimace at. None of us really listen to our back catalogue — we're all in the mindset of doing what needs to be done now. But I don't think there's anything where I thought, 'Oh, did we lose our minds or something?' — even though some songs were written on, eh, certain chemicals. But that was years ago — I don't take anything stronger than a cup of Earl Grey nowadays. Still, it's amazing how incredible something sounds when you're stinking drunk, but in the morning it sounds like absolute shit."

Read the entire interview at DecibelMagazine.com.