Inside Story

Judas Priest is ready to bare it all—metal studs, leather, and legacy—in the upcoming documentary The Ballad of Judas Priest, set to be released by Sony Music Vision. Though a release date is yet to be announced, anticipation is already high for this no-holds-barred film, co-directed by rock historian Sam Dunn and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, marking Morello’s directorial debut.

The film chronicles Judas Priest’s remarkable rise from Birmingham’s working-class streets to becoming one of heavy metal’s most influential bands. Over five decades, the band has sold over 50 million records and, with the 2024 release of Invincible Shield, became the first metal group to drop studio albums 50 years apart.

Promising unprecedented access, the band says fans will see Judas Priest “uncensored” and in “all its metal glory.” The title, a nod to Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,” underscores the film’s mission to reflect the band’s poetic grit.

With their upcoming fall tour alongside Alice Cooper and renewed interest in their legacy, The Ballad of Judas Priest is shaping up to be a defining portrait of one of rock’s loudest trailblazers.

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