Courtesy of Explorer1 Music

Courtesy of Explorer1 MusicFormer Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has launched a new band called KK’s Priest that features two other former members of his old group — singer Tim “Ripper” Owens and drummer Les Binks — as well as Voodoo Six bassist Tony Newton and Hostile guitarist A.J. Mills.

KK’s Priest currently is working on its debut studio album, and is plotting to hit the road to celebrate Judas Priest’s 50th anniversary.

“Forging ahead with KK’s Priest was not only inevitable, but was essential for me to perform and deliver everything that is expected from me and KK’s Priest,” says Downing in a statement. “Due to the massive demand and overwhelming support from fans around the world, I feel this is where I belong, and a set combining the true, classic songs and sound of Priest, together with great, newly forged metal tracks, is what fans can expect when KK’s Priest takes to stages around the world.”

Downing joined Judas Priest in 1970 and was featured on every album that the band released through 2008’s Nostradamus. He exited the group in 2011 and was replaced by Richie Faulkner, who was a former member of Voodoo Six.

Owens sang with Priest from 1996 to 2003 and contributed to two of the band’s studio albums — 1997’s Jugulator and 2001’s Demolition. Binks played with the group from 1977 to 1979 and his drumming is heard on two classic Judas Priest studio records — 1978’s Stained Class and Hell Bent for Leather — and the platinum-certified 1979 live album, Unleashed in the East.

KK’s Priest came together after Downing played a special one-off gig this past November in Wolverhampton, U.K., with Owens, Binks, Mills and Megadeth bassist David Ellefson.

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