One of the biggest stories in recent years for fans of heavy metal music was the announcement in 2003 that original Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford would be rejoining the band after over a decade away from the group. While Priest had soldiered on to record two albums with onetime Priest cover band singer Tim "Ripper" Owens (a saga that was loosely and rather shoddily portrayed in the film 'Rock Star'), fans of the group had clamored endlessly for a reunion with Halford.

This year's annual Ozzfest marks the first time that Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, two of the seminal bands in the history of heavy metal, have shared the stage for a tour. KTVU.com caught up with founding member and guitarist K.K. Downing to learn more about the monumental reunion, the current tour and other developments with the group.

KTVU.com: So how's the Ozzfest Tour going so far?

K.K. Downing: It really is fantastic to be on the Ozzfest because it's a guaranteed success if you know what I mean. The crowds have been massive to say the least, and I think I'm right in saying that the shows are all pretty much sold out. And it's really efficiently run, the whole thing. It's quite amazing.

KTVU.com: I imagine if you played any summer festivals in Europe you were probably playing to crowds as big or bigger, but this must be the first time you've been playing to crowds of this size in America in a little while.

K.K. Downing: Yeah, that's right. We just got off doing a lot of festivals all over Europe and that was great. It was anything from around 12,000 to around 45,000 in some places. But as consistent show and a great pedestal to reintroduce the band to America, this [Ozzfest] is the best thing we possibly could have done.

KTVU.com: I had an interview with Rob Halford when he was touring with his solo band back in May of 2003, just prior to the announcement that Priest was getting back together. At the time, he suggested that the reunion could happen but wasn't that imminent and then the next month the word came out. I was curious, given the persistent rumors that were coming out for a few years, how long did reconciliation take from initial talks to when you made the announcement?

K.K. Downing: Well, from our point of view we had to listen to those rumors that were totally unfounded for a long time! And then suddenly, for a very short space of time -- and it was very short really -- they were actually true. But we didn't know what was happening until we met up to start discussing business matters, mainly the Metalogy box set which is out now, and a few other things. And basically it was Rob indicating that he'd wrapped up his other commitments and was available to do some work. It was just getting the timing right.

We'd just done two albums and two world tours with Ripper Owens and so everything just kind of came together. We'd be traveling the world and we'd always get a massive amount of people wanting to know if Halford was coming back. And it seemed to be intensifying rather than diminishing, the demand from the fans.

So we thought even though we're making great records and sounding great and Ripper's a brilliant singer -- there's no two ways about that -- it just seems the people want the original. And as I've said before, it's a historical fact that that's what people want. And I think they've got a point really, when they've gone out and dedicated themselves to a band for so many years: bought the albums and bought the t-shirts and stayed loyal. Then they want that original line-up back and feel they're entitled to it.

KTVU.com: The period after Rob's departure and the recording of Jugulator was pretty lengthy. I know from what I've read that it was partly because of how long it took to find a replacement, but did it end up being the proper time for the band to take an extended break? Or was it really just the search to find the right man to fill Rob's shoes?

K.K. Downing: It was a matter of finding the right man. We really wanted to find someone who hadn't belonged to another successful band, you know?

KTVU.com: You wanted to avoid the classic rotating heavy metal singer syndrome?

K.K. Downing: Exactly. We could have done that. There were a lot of good singers who would have been willing to join the band, but then it would have been the amalgamation of two bands and we always wanted it to remain uniquely Judas Priest. But, as I said before, in the end people just wanted the Priest. I'm a firm believer that every band with any sort of status, just like they have the musicians and the sound of the band, they also have the voice of the band. And Halford is the voice of Judas Priest as far as everybody is concerned.

And why shouldn't he be, having worked on so many albums and songs? And it's difficult to top that, even with a great vocalist like Ripper, because everyone is so used to the sound, which I think is the most important part, but it's also the performance, the personality and the charisma.

I think people were very good to us with Ripper, but a lot of people could have given Ripper a bit more leeway in the sense that Rob had twenty years of experience with the band -- and most of that on big stages -- where Ripper had never had any experience on that level. But you know, at the end of the day, it's just the trademark line-up is what people wanted.

KTVU.com: I have to say that I saw that first tour with Ripper Owens for the Jugulator album at the Warfield in San Francisco and it was pretty uncanny. I'd only seen you once with Halford, but I was suprised at how well Ripper was able to pull off the vocal gymnastics.

K.K. Downing: If we hadn't been known as Judas Priest and were a new band, I believe that group would have been big. But it seemed to be pushed down a little bit because it was Judas Priest that wasn't Judas Priest in a lot of people's eyes.

KTVU.com: I'm curious if you kept up with the output of Rob's projects and what you thought of some of the material he came out with?

K.K. Downing: Yeah. To be honest, I was glad when Rob came back and did the Resurrection thing. I think that was recognition on his part that he knew who his fans were and who he was. So I was relieved when he did that and got back on track. But anything previous to that, I don't think it was necessarily right for him …

To read Part II of BayInsider's interview with K.K. Downing, please click here.