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.
"I called and they said, 'You have a passport? We want to meet you. We don't know if you've got to sing - we want to just see you're not an LA rock star.' That was their kind of words." Read more here.
Classic Rock Magazine is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
Copyright Classic Rock Magazine- Excerpted here with permission.
Sites and Sounds: Music Adds to Your Caribbean Fun in Sint Maarten - Saint Martin
The Blues: Ollee Owens- Kenny 'Blues Boss' Wayne- more
Burton Cummings Releases New Album and Embarks on 60th Anniversary Hits Tour
Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Roger Daltrey Tribute Soul Man Sam Moore
AC/DC Birthplace Accidental Destruction In New Documentary
Foreigner Hit New Milestones With Classic Hits
Tremonti Launching The End Will Show Us How Tour This Week
Metal Supergroup Crucial Velocity Deliver New album 'Controller'
Hirax Announce New Album 'Faster Than Death'
Necronomicon Ex Mortis Unleash 'Unspeakable Swamp Creature'
Billy Joel Forced To Postpone Hard Rock Show Due To Medical Procedure