Throughout heavy metal's history, there have been few times where a fan was lucky enough to land a spot with their favorite band due to a vacancy, such as
Jason Newsted joining
Metallica, and
Tim "Ripper" Owens signing on with
Judas Priest. Hailing from Akron, OH,
Owens grew up a major metal fan -- fronting a
Judas Priest cover band (called British Steel) and getting his nickname,
Ripper, from the title of his favorite
Priest song.
Owens also fronted other local groups as well (including Brainicide, U.S. Metal,
Winters Bane, and Seattle), as he developed a multi-octave vocal range, just like his hero,
Rob Halford. It was during this time that
Owens and
Winters Bane guitarist
Lou St. Paul penned a concept album together,
Heart of a Killer, which told the story of a murderer who gets a heart transplant from the same judge who sentenced him to the death penalty. Recorded in Germany over a period of only two weeks, the album was originally issued on a small independent record label in Germany as well.
One night,
Owens and British Steel were playing at a small club in Erie, PA, when the girlfriend of
Priest drummer
Scott Travis happened to catch the performance. She was so impressed with
Owens that she videotaped the show and forwarded it to
Travis and his fellow
Priest bandmates, who had been on hiatus for several years by this point (after longtime frontman
Halford left the group in 1992).
Priest was so impressed with
Owens' vocal skills that an audition was set up in England just a few short days later, and after only singing the first verse of the
Priest classic "Victim of Changes," he landed the gig. 1997 saw the release of
Jugulator, which doubled as
Priest's long-awaited comeback album (they hadn't issued a new studio release since 1990) and, of course,
Owens' debut with the group. The album performed respectfully on the charts, as did its ensuing world tour, which was documented a year later with the release
'98 Live Meltdown.
Attempting to cash in on
Owens' high-profile gig, the Century Media label reissued the old
Winters Bane release,
Heart of a Killer, complete with extra live and demo bonus tracks in 2000. Also around the same time, a movie was being made based on
Owens' rise from obscurity to fronting his favorite band, and although
Priest was originally involved in the project, they eventually bowed out. The film, 2001's Rock Star, was made anyway, with actor
Mark Wahlberg playing the role of a singer based on
Owens. The same year,
Judas Priest issued their second studio album with
Owens,
Demolition.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi