A 'massive northern exclusive' - rock pioneers Judas Priest to star at Scarborough Open Air Theatre gig

The British legends – who have shaped the sound and style of heavy metal for more than half a century – will headline the open-air concert arena on Wednesday July 23 when they will celebrate 35 years of their iconic album Painkiller.

It follows the announcement earlier today that The Corrs are also coming to Scarborough.

This unmissable show is one of only two UK dates Judas Priest will play next summer and a massive northern exclusive.

The band's only other UK live show is at London’s 02.

Supporting Judas Priest at Scarborough will be Welsh rockers Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons.

Tickets go on sale from ticketmaster.co.uk and scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk at 10am on Friday December 13

There are few heavy metal bands that have managed to scale the heights that Judas Priest have during a 50-plus year career.

Their presence and influence remains at an all-time high as evidenced by 2018’s Firepower being the highest-charting album of their career.

GRAMMY Award wins and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame further cemented their place in music legend.

Originally formed in Birmingham in 1969, it was in the late 1970s that Priest delivered a quartet of albums – Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather and Unleashed in the East – separating them from the rest of the hard rock pack.

The albums spawned such metal anthems as Sinner, Diamonds and Rust, Hell Bent for Leather, and The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown).

Priest were famously one of the first metal bands to exclusively wear leather and studs – a look that began during this era and would eventually be embraced by ‘metal heads’ throughout the world.

Fast forward to today – and with landmark albums and sell-out shows around the world – Priest continue to be both revered and celebrated in equal measure and most recently were nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Metal Performance.

In 2022, band members Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and Scott Travis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – appointed by legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper.

Priest’s Scarborough date will see support come from fellow rockers Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons.

Originally formed as a side project towards the last couple of years of Motörhead by Phil Campbell, the former Motörhead guitarist of 32 years, the band decided to take it up a level and officially launched in 2016.

By the time they released their debut album, The Age Of Absurdity, in January 2018, this honest rock ‘n’ roll enterprise had organically blossomed into a pretty big deal.

The album garnered great reviews and picked up a trophy for Best Debut Album at Metal Hammer Germany’s 2018 awards.

Scarborough OAT venue programme Julian Murray, of promoters Cuffe and Taylor, said: “Judas Priest are a legendary and pioneering band who shaped the style and sound of heavy metal.

“They are currently selling out venues around the world, as they have done for the last half century, and we are delighted to be bringing them here to the Yorkshire coast next summer for a show fans will absolutely love.”