JUDAS PRIEST: Tim "Ripper" Owens

Founding JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says that he had "a change of mind" about leaving the band before his exit was officially announced a decade ago.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

The 69-year-old Downing, who wrote about his departure from PRIEST in his 2018 autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", discussed his split with the group in a brand new interview with Brazil's "Inside With Paulo Baron".



Speaking about his decision to write a book, Downing said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wanted to try and give my side of everything, really. And I know it's always tough to do, and it was tough to do. But the set of circumstances led to what it became.

"Not a lot of people know this, but some things happened in the winter of 2010, and they were not good things that were happening, and I was not happy. I felt I deserved more credibility and more respect. And I'm a very proud guy. So I basically threw the towel in.

"I don't mention this in the book, but a few months later, I changed my mind," he revealed. "I was starting to change my mind. It's like with your girlfriend or your wife or whatever. I've never been married, but I've had lots of arguments with my partners and girlfriends. But after a while, you think, 'Oh, God. Was it my fault?'

"I was talking to Ian [Hill, JUDAS PRIEST bassist] in April [2011]. I [knew] it was a farewell tour, and that was all I was giving up. After a lifetime of dedication, it was just doing the farewell tour [that I was walking away from]. But then I said to Ian, 'I think I'm having a change of mind. I think I should do the tour.' I was talking to him about it. And I asked me to send me the setlist over that they'd been working on. And he sent me the setlist over, but the very next day, they released it to the press that I retired from the band. And then I was really angry. And then I sent in a second letter — not so polite this time. I was really angry because they were obviously talking.

"So, I don't really feel as though I left the band," Downing added. "I feel as though it was orchestrated for me not to be there. So that's what happened. Then I became a very angry person. I neglected to mention that in the book, but it is what it is."

In recent years, Downing has made it very clear that he wanted to return to JUDAS PRIEST, particularly in early 2018 when guitarist Glenn Tipton announced his decision to retire from touring. "But if it's not to be, it's not to be," K.K. told "Inside With Paulo Baron". "I always thought that there would be an opportunity for me to be back in the band, but it just hasn't happened. So, a year ago, I had to move on. I asked them one more time just over a year ago to reconsider, because there was guys in the band that wanted me in the band, and they said so. So I thought that that was an opportunity, but I was closed down by other people.

"It's crazy," Downing continued. "Especially in the world we live in. How many bands split up and reunite? How many guys leave and come back? It happens all the time. You're bound to have a couple of arguments along the way, after 40 years or more. It's bound to happen — disagreement. But it just hasn't been able to turn around, this one, strangely enough. But, obviously, from my point of view, I tried, guys — I tried."