Ian Hill Stresses Importance of Connecting With Younger Audience With Original Judas Priest Fans “Expiring”

Since the late 1960s, Judas Priest traveled the world, sharing their love for heavy metal. Recording songs like “Electric Eye”, “Turbo Lover”, and “Painkiller”, the band sold over 50 million albums throughout their time on stage. Although the band has been part of the music industry for decades, recently, member Ian Hill discussed the importance of trying to connect with a younger generation of fans as their current fans are getting older. 

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Speaking about the ongoing legacy of Judas Priest with The Pick, Hill opened up about how the band always focused on staying relevant even as the years passed. “It’s something we always try and do, is try and take a step forward with each album. I mean, you’re learning stuff all the time, and whatever we learn, we try and put it into the next project. And we’ve done that right from the very start, right from way back in early ’70s. And it’s important that you do it, because it keeps you modern and it keeps you relevant.”

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Ian Hill Happy To See Young Fans Fall I Love With Judas Priest

While always trying to expand their fanbase, Hill promised that it was working as he noticed young people in the audience. “You can sort of make that connection with the younger fans, which is important. I mean, the original fans are all our age, and they’re all sort of expiring. But we’ve been able to make that connection with the younger people. And you look down from stage, and you see people in late teens, early twenties, what have you.”

Although Hill was happy to see young fans give Judas Priest a chance, he insisted they fell in love with heavy metal. “They’re loving it, and it’s not just the new stuff that they’re loving — they’re singing along to the older stuff, 20, 30 years old, what have you. So you’ve got them interested in that and they’ve gone back into the heritage of the band and started to look at some of the earlier material. And it’s great news — not just for us, but it’s great news for metal in general, that these people are still getting interested in it.”

Heading into the new year, Judas Priest prepared to hit the road, traveling to South America and Europe with their newest tour.

(Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)