Behind the Music profiles Judas Priest

As part of its Behind the Music weekend, VH1 will debut on Sunday, September 23, a new episode of the popular biography series examining Judas Priest and the band's gay former lead singer, Rob Halford. The show will follow, according to the VH1 program guide, "four guys from working-class England [who] rose from the smoke of their heavy-industry town in the late '70s to become pioneers of 'the new wave of British heavy metal.' Judas Priest washed ashore in the U.S. in 1977 and catapulted to popularity to become one of the biggest bands in the world." Halford came out on the cover of The Advocate in May 1998, and Behind the Music talks to both Halford and his band mates about his life in the closet at the top of the heavy metal heap as well as his decision to leave the band and talk publicly about his sexuality. (Judas Priest's decision to replace Halford with the lead singer from a Judas Priest tribute band was the inspiration for the current movie Rock Star, with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.) The show debuts at 11 a.m. Eastern time Sunday and repeats at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., then again next week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, September 29. Check local listings.