19 August, 1991. Operation Rock and Roll, featuring Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Metal Church and Dangerous Toys rolled into Toronto. The last show of the tour. Unfortunately the day lives on in infamy. It was the day Rob Halford hit his head (right on the bridge of the nose) on the drum riser, knocking him out cold! Priest performed “Hell Bent for Leather” as an instrumental while Rob lay unseen in a cloud of artificial fog! On top of that, and unbeknownst at the time, it was Priest’s very last gig with the Metal God for a decade.
This pre-accident Pepsi Power Hour interview by Michael Williams is interesting because Rob discusses their forthcoming compilation Metal Works a full two years before it was out. At that point the plan was to try and write a couple new songs for the compilation, and then go back into the studio to record a brand new Priest album some time in 1992. Needless to say, that did not work out! As the last show of the Painkiller tour, this day was actually the last time Rob even saw his bandmates until they reconciled!
mikeladano.com 
Man, he sounds so hopeful about that next album! Ah, what could have been.
Alice Cooper! Judas Priest! Motorhead! Metal Church! And….. Dangerous Toys???????
One of these things is not like the others. You’ve got the Billion Dollar Babies, the Defenders of the Faith, the Overkillers, the Blessings in Disguise, and the Woody Sporters.
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I never listened to DT, but you’re right.
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I envy you.
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Well, I mean, I heard them. Didn’t like the singer.
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Should have called himself Brett Rose.
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I watched this last night as it showed up on my Youtube Feed. Cool throwback interview with a great interviewer. I always liked Williams.
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Yeah with these VHS things I have to post em the next day or everybody will have seen them.
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He didn’t quit. According to him, he asked for time off to do a solo album and they mistook it for quitting the band. Complete misunderstanding. Rob admits he was too scared to call them and explain. Sadly it took more than 10 years to make-up and work things out.
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I haven’t read Rob’s book but there is definitely more to it than that. He sent them a notice by fax saying he would be comfortable working with Priest again in “3-5 years” so he could work on his solo career. I mean…that is provocative, more than just miscommunication. Putting Priest on hold 3-5 years when clearly in THIS interview, they were supposed to be working on a new album. Maybe not a miscommunication, but definitely LACK of communication.
And then we have the bitterness and slagging that followed. A quote by Rob saying that getting hit on the head in Toronto must have “knocked some sense” into him.
Obviously all is well now, but at the time, I think sending that fax was a huge factor.
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The wording of the fax was suspect for sure. I don’t remember it saying 3-5 years (at least what he recalls he sent), but when I read it I can see it being interpreted as quitting despite what Rob says the intention was. Good read. Writing the book review this weekend as I just finished it a couple days ago.
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You are a writing machine. I can barely throw two together in a week.
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I don’t know about a machine, but I have been pumping them out, but I am also not preparing every week for a huge live stream with cool, incredible guests either. This weekend I am writing the Rob Book and Queen’s News of the World. Some good stuff to write about.
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I didn’t know about the fax, but I knew that Halford wanted to do some solo stuff, but I can see how a lack of communication played a factor into the bad blood between Halford and the band that followed.
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I sure hope some roadies crawled out, under the cover of dry ice, and dragged him off-stage for some help! 20 years… man, pick up the phone, somebody!
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Michael Williams not letting him get away with saying they didn’t have any hits is my favourite part.
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Williams had a great rapport with these guys didn’t he? I miss these guys. Ed the Sock’s MuchMusic will not amount to much I’m afraid.
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Is that happening? Is it coming back to TV or YouTube?
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I dunno, he keeps talking about his MuchMusic revival project, apparently Bell shot him down so now he’s crowdfunding.
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Well, good luck with that!
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Thankfully, Halford reunited with Priest years later. But you can’t help but look back on the struggles the band faced at the time. I still think it’s awful that he got knocked out cold on his last gig with Priest (for a while).
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I’m disappointed he wasn’t on a Harley at the beginning there. Just realised that this is the first time I’ve ever heard Rob speak!
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