Rob Halford Shares Support For Greta Van Fleet's Josh Kiszka After He Publicly Came Out

Rob Halford is a legend. There’s a reason why we affectionately call him the Metal God – I mean, just listen to his vocals! But what if he’s also the Metal God because he looks after the up-and-coming rockers?

That’s exactly what he did yesterday (21 June) when he responded to Greta Van Fleet vocalist Josh Kiszka’s public coming out as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community with a heartwarming, four-word message: “I love you Josh,” with an assortment of music-related emojis, including the horns up symbol.

dude judas priest commenting on josh’s coming out post has me sobbing. pic.twitter.com/ESqAcjhnFb

— cassie💫 (@joshm0nica) June 21, 2023

Anyone's feelings towards Greta Van Fleet’s music aside, it’s pretty scary to come out as a queer person in Kiszka’s home state of Tennessee. 

As he wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement, legislators in Tennessee “are proposing bills that threaten the freedom of love. It’s imperative that I speak my truth for not only myself, but in hopes to change hearts, minds, and laws in Tennessee and beyond.”

That legislation he speaks of is SB 1440, a bill that attempts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ Tennesseans by codifying “sex” as “a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person’s biological sex” throughout state code, per the Human Rights Campaign.

Kiszka continued, "These issues are especially close to my heart as I’ve been in a loving, same-sex relationship with my partner for the past 8 years. Those close to me are well aware, but it’s important to me to share publicly.

“Over the years, the outpouring of love for the LGBTQ+ community has been resounding, but there is still work to be done for LGBTQ+ rights in TN, the nation, and the world.”

He then shared links to organisations assisting LGBTQIA+ people in Nashville and throughout Tennessee, including HRC Nashville, the non-profit Inclusion Tennessee, the ACLU of Tennessee, Nashville Pride Festival, The Trevor Project and more.

Kiszka added, “The LGBTQ+ community is a cultural pillar, constantly championing positivity and acceptance through art, music, literature, film, and most importantly, legislation.

“The greatest mortal gift of all is our capacity to love, and as we travel through time, may our greater understanding of the matter around and within us teach us to love ever deeper.”

In recent Rob Halford news, the Judas Priest vocalist joins Dolly Parton as she scores her first-ever #1 on the Mediabase Classic Rock Chart with Bygones featuring Halford, Nikki Sixx and John 5. The track is the latest single from her upcoming album, Rockstar.

“I am so excited to see the response Bygones is receiving! To debut at No. 1 on the Rock charts is such a thrill for me, and it makes it even sweeter to share this with Rob, Nikki and John 5,” Parton said in a statement, per Blabbermouth. “I also have to recognise my coproducer on the album and cowriter on this song, Kent Wells, who helped me bring this song to life. I am a happy girl today!”

Upon its release last week, Parton said about the song: “Bygones is an original song of mine featuring Rob Halford from Judas Priest, with Nikki Sixx and John 5. It is one of my very favorites [sic] on the whole album. The song fits with so many couples, and coupling my voice with Rob, one of my all-time favorites [sic], made it even more special.”