Rob Halford fr Judas Priest Coming Out / Abbie Kearse MTV News Demo Reel # 21 1998

Reporter / Producer: Abbie Kearse
Producer / Halford Interviewer : Jim Fraenkel

Worked as a reporter on this segment to air on MTV News 1515 and daily news spots getting reactions to the news of Rob Halford of Judas Priest fame coming out and saying publicly he is a gay man.
The piece includes a visit to Fingers Metal Shop on WBAB 102.3 FM Long Island in the town of Babylon, NY (it is also the radio station I got my first commercial radio break as a DJ back in 1985).


more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Halford

In 1998, Halford came out as gay publicly on an interview with MTV News.
"I think that most people know that I've been a gay man all of my life, and it's only been in recent times it's an issue that I feel comfortable to address (...) something that I feel has a moment, and this is the moment to discuss it."
—Rob Halford
It is revealed in Behind the Music that hiding his sexuality during Priest's career caused him a lot of depression and isolation which led to his alcohol and drug abuse.
This event was the subject of the song "Hats Off to Halford" by Atom and His Package (released on Making Love, No Idea Records, 1999).
He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona, US,[17] though he also maintains residences in San Diego, California, US and Amsterdam, Netherlands, as well as a home in his native Walsall, United Kingdom. Although he is able to play several instruments (including guitar, bass, harmonica and drums), he does not consider himself enough of an accomplished instrumentalist to play while performing on stage. In an interview with Motor Trend, he revealed that he has owned a variety of classic cars, including a 1970's Aston Martin DBS, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Mercury Cougar, although he didn't pass his driving test until he was 38 years old;[18] his current daily driver is a 2006 Cadillac DTS.[19]
He has been clean and sober since going to rehab in 1986, stating that, before that point, he heavily abused drugs and alcohol.[20] He was born and raised in a Christian home, and states the following about his upbringing: "On a religious, more spiritual foundation, that really, for me, has become more important since I became clean and sober on Jan. 6, 1986. That was 25 years ago and I think that's probably more important to me now, on a daily basis."


http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/101216/rob-halford-comes-out.jhtml


(reel is for demonstration and non profit educational proposes only)
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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Abbie Kearse
• Jim Fraenkel
• MTV News
• Rob Halford
• Judas Priest
• Metal
• Fingers
• WBAB
• Babylon