Rainbow are a British/American rock band formed in London and Los Angeles in 1975 by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Established in the aftermath of Blackmore's first departure from Deep Purple, they originally featured four members of the band Elf, including their singer Ronnie James Dio, but after their self-titled debut album, Blackmore fired these members, except Dio, recruiting drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboardist Tony Carey. This line-up recorded the band's second album Rising (1976), while Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) saw Bob Daisley and David Stone replace Bain and Carey, respectively. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was also the last album with Dio before he left the band to join Black Sabbath in 1979.
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Kenneth Keith Downing Jr. is an English guitarist and a founding member of the heavy metal bands Judas Priest and KK's Priest.
Mark Scott Travis is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the British heavy metal band Judas Priest, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, and the supergroup Elegant Weapons. He was also a longtime member of the American heavy metal band Racer X during their initial run and then reformation up until their 2009 breakup.
Rex Robert Brown is an American musician. He is the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, having joined the band in 1982. Following the band's reunion in 2022, Brown is the longest-serving member of the band. He is also a former member of the supergroup Down (2001–2011) and a former bassist for Kill Devil Hill. He released his debut solo album Smoke on This… in 2017. For the first time in Brown's career, the work features him not only as a bassist but also as lead vocalist and guitarist.
Demolition is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, and the first in the decade of the 2000s. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. It is also the only Judas Priest studio album to feature a Parental Advisory label on the album cover due to the songs "Machine Man", "Hell Is Home", and "Metal Messiah" containing profanity.
Heaven & Hell was a British-American heavy metal supergroup active from 2006 to 2010, featuring guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice.
"Painkiller" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in 1990; it was later released as a single on Columbia Records. It is off the band's twelfth album of the same name as the opening track. The lyrics tell the story of the Painkiller, the character featured on the cover of the album, who is a cyborg superhero who saves mankind from destruction.
The Epitaph World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, at the time intended to be the band's farewell tour. The tour commenced in June 2011 and concluded in May 2012. The tour was named after the 6th track from their Sad Wings of Destiny album.
Richard Ian Faulkner is an English musician most known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest since 2011, replacing original member K. K. Downing. Faulkner has also performed with Lauren Harris, Christopher Lee, Voodoo Six, Deeds, and Ace Mafia.
Kill Devil Hill is an American rock supergroup, founded in 2011 by drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Rex Brown, guitarist Mark Zavon, and lead vocalist Dewey Bragg. The band is named after the town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a location renowned from pirating days.
Redeemer of Souls is the seventeenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, which was released in the US on 8 July 2014, in Europe on 11 July, and in the UK on 14 July. It is their first album without founding guitarist K. K. Downing, who quit the band in 2011 and was replaced by new guitarist Richie Faulkner. It also marks the band's last album to be produced by Glenn Tipton. The album sold around 32,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to peak at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the band's first top 10 album debut in the US. It has sold 110,000 copies in the US as of February 2016.
Battle Cry is a live video released by Judas Priest on 25 March 2016 on DVD and on 1 April 2016 on Blu-ray. It was filmed at the Wacken Open Air festival on 1 August 2015 in front of a capacity of 85,000 people. A CD version was also released bundled with the DVD version as well. Both DVD and Blu-ray formats contain three bonus tracks recorded from their 10 December 2015 show at the Ergo Arena in Gdańsk, Poland.
Epitaph is a live video released by Judas Priest on DVD and Blu-Ray on 28 May 2013. It was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo on 26 May 2012, which was the last date of the Epitaph World Tour, where they performed songs from each Halford-era album from Rocka Rolla to Nostradamus. The show was first seen in cinemas in New York City on 14 May and in London on 15 May with special screenings around the world on 16 May. It then premiered on VH1 Classic in the United States on 25 May.
Ronald Romero is a Chilean singer and lyricist best known as the vocalist of the bands Elegant Weapons, Lords of Black, Rainbow, the Ferrymen, Michael Schenker Group, and Sunstorm. He represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 as the lead singer of Intelligent Music Project.
Firepower is the eighteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. Released in 2018, it was the band's first studio album since 1988's Ram It Down to be produced by Tom Allom and the first one with Andy Sneap as co-producer. The album sold around 49,000 copies in the United States within its first week of release, debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the band's highest-charting album in the US. The album also reached No. 5 in the UK, making it their first top-ten album in the UK since British Steel. Music videos were made for "Lightning Strike", "Spectre" and "No Surrender". A lyric video was made for "Never the Heroes". The record also produced three singles.
The Firepower World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, in support of the album Firepower. It ran from 13 March 2018 to 29 June 2019.
Exile is the eleventh studio album by American Christian metal band Demon Hunter, released through their self-founded record label, Weapons MFG, and the band's first concept album. It was announced for release on September 9, 2022, then delayed to October 28, 2022, due to supply chain issues.
Invincible Shield is the nineteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 6 March 2024 by Sony in Japan, and globally two days later through Columbia and Epic Records. It was produced by the band's touring guitarist Andy Sneap, who also produced 2018's Firepower, while the album's last two tracks were co-produced by Tom Allom.
