Al Atkins

Al Atkins
Born	(1947-10-14) 14 October 1947 (age 76) West Bromwich, West Midlands, England
Genres	Heavy metal, blues rock, hard rock
Occupation(s)	Vocalist
Years active	1964–present

Musical artist

Alan John Atkins (born 14 October 1947)^[1] is an English heavy metal vocalist, best known for being the original lead vocalist and founder of Judas Priest.

Biography

Atkins formed what would become Judas Priest in 1969. With a wife and young daughter to support, Atkins was forced to drop out of Judas Priest "to get a 9-to-5 job" in May 1973.^[2] Atkins' position as lead vocalist was succeeded by Rob Halford, who has remained the bands singer since. With Atkins out of the group, no founding members of the band remained (original members Brian "Bruno" Stapenhill, and John Partridge had left the band in 1970, and John Perry committed suicide in 1969).

As of 2012, Atkins fronts the band Atkins/May Project, which also features guitarist Paul May.^[2] A press release dated 21 May 2011 stated that Atkins would be contributing session vocals for the heavy metal opera project, Lyraka.^[3] In 2013, Atkins recorded a solo album of his favorite songs written between his days in Judas Priest and his Holy Rage days.

Discography

Solo

Judgement Day (1990)
Dreams of Avalon (1991)
Heavy Thoughts (1994) (released in 2003 with two bonus tracks)
Victim of Changes (1998)
Demon Deceiver (2007)
Demon Deceiver... Plus (re-release with two bonus tracks, 2009)
Reloaded (re-recorded "best of", featuring Ian Hill, Ralf Scheepers, Roy Z and more special guests, 2017)

Holy Rage

Holy Rage (2010)

Atkins / May Project

Serpents Kiss (2011)
Valley of Shadows (2012)
Empire of Destruction (2014)
Anthology (compilation, 2015)
The Final Cut (2020)

Albums (guest sessions)

Lyraka

Lyraka Volume 2 (not yet released)

References

^ Atkins, Al; Daniels, Neil (2009). Dawn of the Metal Gods. My life in Judas Priest and Heavy Metal. IronPages Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-931624-56-9.
^ ^a ^b "Ex-Judas Priest Singer Says Band Could've Sounded Like AC/DC If He Stuck Around". Ultimateclassicrock.com. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
^ [1] Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine