Tim “Ripper” Owens, former JUDAS PRIEST singer, discussed his time with KK’S PRIEST, fronted by guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing, in a Metal Mal interview. According to BLABBERMOUTH.NET, he stated: “The material is excellent. I enjoy our 2023 album ‘The Sinner Rides Again’. Great experience. Excellent shows. What’s fantastic is the band, sound, and shows. People are amazed by the concerts. They like hearing music played correctly for once. It’s kind of nice.”
Tim was asked if KK’S PRIEST performs newly discovered JUDAS PRIEST songs at its live gigs. “We did. We performed ‘Before The Dawn’. We play ‘Before The Dawn’, which PRIEST never did. Ken is certain they never performed it live.
“We changed KK’S PRIEST’s setlist,” Owens said. “Earlier this year, we did ‘Beyond Realm Of Death’ and ‘Victim Of Changes’, and this time we did ‘Diamonds And Rust’, my version with the band, with the high notes at the end, ‘Before The Dawn’ and ‘Sinner’. So we did things differently.
“I would like to [play more songs PRIEST has never performed live],” he said. The issue is that we split it in two. We hear the most complaints about not doing more PRIEST songs from my era. We sing ‘Burn In Hell’. We receive the most questions about why we’re not doing more of [the material I did with PRIEST]. But it’s hard. Not being an old band is the issue. Meeting together, we learn these tunes. We have background screens for it. You cannot change your setlist or learn new songs while touring. Other bands can. They’ve toured with that lineup for 12 years, like JUDAS PRIEST. They can reuse these songs throughout the setlist. We have a good setlist.”
Downing discussed KK’S PRIEST’s autumn 2024 North American co-headlining tour with ACCEPT in a TalkShopLive interview. He said: “I loved being with the boys. ACCEPT—I met the guys in 1982 or 1983. They supported JUDAS PRIEST on the ‘Point Of Entry’ tour and the album after ‘British Steel’. Our friendship grew, and I’m proud of the boys. They kept their word and are metal through and through, so it was nice to see Wolf [Hoffmann, ACCEPT guitarist] and the boys again. Before that, we’d been performing some huge festivals in Europe, and we ran into the guys there and started talking about our US trip. It went great. We had fun revisiting so many beautiful cities. Not everywhere in America, but we played 28 shows. It was fantastic to be back, and we’ll definitely return.”
Downing also discussed KK’S PRIEST’s first two albums, 2021’s “Sermons Of The Sinner” and “The Sinner Rides Again” and the prospect of a follow-up: “We were quite busy—did two albums in three years. We hope to release three albums in four years. The touring schedule has been incredibly busy over the last 18 months, but we’re looking forward to returning to South America and Australia. I’m not sure where people are listening in today, but hopefully they’re from those territories. Please be patient; we’ll get there. We’ll arrive.”
Along with Downing and Owens, KK’S PRIEST comprises guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE), bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX), and drummer Sean Elg.
KK’S PRIEST’s North American tour with ACCEPT began on August 31 in Los Angeles, California, and visited Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Nashville before ending in San Francisco on October 7.
L.A. GUNS and BURNING WITCHES supported KK’S PRIEST’s first U.S. headlining tour, which began on March 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ended on March 24 at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
In September 2023, Austrian label Napalm Records released KK’S PRIEST’s sophomore album, “The Sinner Rides Again”.
KK’S PRIEST debuted live at Downing’s KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, UK, on July 6, 2023.
K.K. founded KK’S PRIEST when JUDAS PRIEST declined his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th anniversary tour. In the summer of 2019, it performed with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss, then with a special lineup featuring former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.
Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records published KK’S PRIEST’s debut album, “Sermons Of The Sinner”, in October 2021.
Downing spent four months developing and recording “Sermons Of The Sinner” and revived several 1980s riffs along with fresh ideas.
In November 2022, Downing performed with JUDAS PRIEST at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS, and Carly Simon were honored as Performers, while PRIEST got the Musical Excellence Award.
Downing quit PRIEST in 2011 due to band discord, poor management, and deteriorating performance. Richie Faulkner, over 30 years younger, replaced him.
Downing stated in 2019 that he approached JUDAS PRIEST about joining their 50th-anniversary tour, but they declined.
When Downing left JUDAS PRIEST in 2018, he issued two resignation letters to his bandmates. The first was “a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music,” but the second was “angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties.”
Downing later said the second letter was “a key reason” he wasn’t asked back to PRIEST after Glenn Tipton retired from touring.
Before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003, Owens joined the band in 1996 and recorded two studio albums, “Jugulator” in 1997 and “Demolition” in 2001.