Guitarist will make directorial debut with The Ballad of Judas Priest, examining the band’s half-century of heavy metal greatness
Heavy metal legends Judas Priest will be the focus of a career-spanning documentary co-directed by Tom Morello.
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist will make his directorial debut with The Ballad of Judas Priest, which will arrive later this year via Sony Music Vision, Variety reports. Sam Dunn will serve as the other co-director on the film, which — like the band — borrows its name from Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest.”
“We have lived and breathed metal for over five decades, and finally in this documentary we are summoning our congregation to officially witness our lives uncensored, in a never-before-seen way…the cassock comes off, revealing Priest in all its metal glory,” the band said in a joint statement.
The Ballad of Judas Priest will trace the heavy metal band’s half-century legacy, from their roots in Birmingham, England, to their climb to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. With the arrival of 2024’s Invincible Shield, Judas Priest became the first metal act to release albums 50 years apart, as their debut LP, Rocka Rolla, was unleashed in 1974. The band has put out 19 studio albums in that span.
“While some may know Judas Priest for their huge hits that have shaped the heavy metal genre, there is so much more to their story,” Morello and Dunn added. “Tracing their incredible 50-year journey, this film will capture how Judas Priest both defined the sound and look of metal, but also made it a more inclusive place along the way. We are grateful to the band for allowing us such intimate, unfiltered access to their lives and look forward to bringing this film to the metal masses around the world.”
