When did Judas Priest start dressing up like the gay village people ??
Their entire image, was crafted from S&M shops in Soho London during the Hell Bent For Leather/Killing Machine album release on October 8, 1978. Mainly, it was Rob Halford's interest in the "leather daddy" fashion that spiked the idea, with the rest of the band following along, looking for a new image versus the flowing kimonos, robes and hippy-ish look they had worn for nearly a decade prior.
While the concept of the image is without a doubt inspired by the underground bondage gay scene of the time, via Rob Halford's knowledge of the culture; the rest of the band weren't familiar with the concept but rather loved the image as it was more fitting to the music they were playing: black leather,diamonds and studs for an increasingly harder sound and style.
Of course as it's widely known since 1998, Rob Halford is indeed an openly gay man and even laid out his identity to the fans for years, yet they never caught on. From the previously mentioned image to songs and lyrics such as "Grinder", "Eat Me Alive", "Turbo Lover", "Jawbreaker" and even "Breaking The Law", all had subtle references to Rob's identity. The most blatant was " Raw Deal" from Sin After Sin, in which he has stated was his most direct attempt to 'come out' and yet no one paid attention.
Not that any of this matters honestly in the end. Rob Halford coming out when I was a 15 year old metalhead teen, didn't change my opinion on him one iota. Priest was still Priest and Halford was, is and will always still be the Metal God. Just as Freddie Mercury and Elton John were widely accepted, Halford lost no TRUE fans of metal when he came out.
