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Judas Priest<\/a> frontman Rob Halford<\/a> revealed he married his longtime partner Thomas\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got married by the cactus outside on December the something or other, about a year or so ago,” the Metal God\u00a0said on a recent episode of the\u00a0Queer the Music<\/em> podcast, hosted by Scissor Sisters vocalist Jake Shears.<\/p>\n You can watch the episode below.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Judas Priest Albums Ranked From Worst to Best<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Despite\u00a0being together for 30 years, Halford and\u00a0Thomas put off getting married for a long time, partly because Thomas is “from the South. He’s from Alabama \u2014 extremely conservative, God,” Halford explained.<\/p>\n “I stopped asking, ‘Let\u2019s get married.’ ‘No, I don\u2019t\u00a0want to get married.’ ‘Oh, let\u2019s just get married. We\u2019ve been together forever.’ ‘No, I don\u2019t\u00a0want to get married,'”\u00a0the singer said. “And then suddenly on one of our night walks, he goes, ‘I think we should get married.’ [I went] straight home [and got] on the phone to get a pastor.”<\/p>\n Halford detailed the “simple ceremony,” which only involved a handful of guests.\u00a0“It was obviously me and him and an officiant, as they call them, who are legalized to marry people.\u00a0Two of my dearest friends, Jim Silvia, who was Priest’s [tour] manager forever, and his wife. There\u00a0were just four of us around the pool, around the cactus, the heavy metal cactus. And it was over in an instant. But it was just a beautiful, simple ceremony.”<\/p>\n The frontman also explained why he considered the union significant. “Is marriage important? I’ll leave that up to you,” he said. “You decide whether you think a piece of paper is valuable. In some cases, it is \u2014 it\u2019s extremely valuable. But for us to tie the knot, it\u2019s just nice. It\u2019s just a nice thing. It seems like you\u2019ve completed something in your relationship, more than anything else. The commitment goes to another level when you get married. It\u2019s a great thing to do. And if it doesn\u2019t work, that\u2019s life. But I think after being together for 35 years, it\u2019s working.”<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> When Rob Halford Shocked Himself by Coming Out on MTV<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n When asked how to nurture a successful relationship, Halford had a simple but important piece of advice.<\/p>\n “It might sound silly,\u00a0[but] if one of you\u00a0cooks dinner, the other one should wash the dishes. You don’t cook dinner\u00a0and<\/em> wash the dishes. It has to be 50\/50,” he said.<\/p>\n “The thing about relationships is that even though you love somebody deeply, you’ve still got this independence, haven’t you? You’re still a person, you’re still you, and I think that’s the great joy of a relationship, even if it’s a turbulent one.”<\/p>\n Judas Priest recently kicked off<\/a> a co-headlining North American tour with\u00a0Alice Cooper<\/a> that runs through late October.<\/p>\n A look at some of music’s queer trailblazers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRob Halford Details ‘Simple’ Wedding Ceremony and the Importance of Marriage<\/h3>\n
Rob Halford’s Advice for a Successful Relationship<\/h3>\n
Rob Halford Reflects on His\u00a0‘Beautiful, Simple’ Wedding<\/h3>\n
35 LGBTQ Icons<\/h2>\n