He joined in 1996 after Rob Halford had quit in 1992, but had to bow out when the original frontman returned in 2003. And he describes the way he landed the position as "a bit of luck."

Owens tells Akron Buzz: "I don't think they had a singer for about four years, then they finally looked for a singer. I was really the only singer who auditioned - I went in there and sang one line of a song, and made the band."

They'd already seen a video of his final performance with a tribute band, and that led to an invitation to make contact with Priest's management. Owens recalls: "I get a call saying, 'You have to call this number - it's Judas Priest. It's a lady named Jayne Andrews. I ran and got a Priest album and started looking for her name, and it was there.