Judas Priest bass player Ian Hill says it’s important to appeal to a new, younger audience – because their original fans are “expiring”.
Hill, 72, says he loves to see young fans at Priest shows and adds, with a chuckle, that the original fans are getting older along with the band and won’t be around forever.
He tells The Pick: “You can sort of make that connection with the younger fans, which is important. 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 their late teens, early 20s, and they’re loving it.
“It’s not just the new stuff that they’re loving. They’re singing along to the older stuff. 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.”
He adds: “It’s something we always try and do, is try and take a step forward with each album. 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.”
Priest released their 19th album, Invincible Shield, in 2024.
Ian Hill Interview 2024 | Judas Priest – YouTube 