“Judas Priest were doing something different. Black Sabbath gave us a real confidence boost to carry on what we were doing”: K.K. Downing on coming up with fellow metal gods Black Sabbath in Birmingham, and why no-one can play like Tony Iommi

K.K. Downing [left] plays his white Flying V, and Black Sabbath's Ozzy and Tony Iommi share a moment onstage in 1978.

As a fellow native of Birmingham, former Judas Priest – and current KK’s Priest – guitarist K.K. Downing remembers coming up within the same scene as Black Sabbath. Prior to hearing their music, specifically their debut album, Downing felt like an outlier who was consistently misclassified, genre-wise. But upon hearing Sabbath’s kindred spirit music, everything changed.

“There was a kind of similarity,” Downing says. “[Sabbath and Priest] were doing something that was different. It gave us a real confidence boost to carry on what we were doing. Black Sabbath was a big confidence boost to us.”