KK Downing
Kenneth Downing Jr. (Born October 27, 1951 in West Bromwich , England ) is a former guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Judas Priest . He left the band on April 20, 2011.
Together with bassist Ian Hill , with whom he had previously worked musically in a band called Freight , he is the founder of the band Judas Priest, which is still very successful today. Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford , who are also known for Judas Priest, didn't join the band until 1972 and 1974, respectively. Like Tipton and Halford, he was one of the main songwriters for Judas Priest .
biography
His early musical influences include Jimi Hendrix , John Mayall and Eric Clapton .
Of all the members of the Judas Priest band , he probably had the hardest childhood. At 15, he was expelled from school. As a child of a typical working class family, he had poor future prospects. His devotion to music ultimately led his parents to ban him from the house because they did not trust him to make a sustainable career with music. Despite the later great success with his music, his parents never accepted his decision.
Downing lived in Spain from 1985 to 1990, then mainly in England. His primary residence is a £ 2 million country house called Astbury Hall in Shropshire . This house was the subject of several years of legal dispute with his girlfriend at the time, Sarah Lissimore, which he ultimately won.
He justified his sudden exit from Judas Priest in 2011 not with his state of health, but with differences between him, the management and the band.
Other musical activities
In addition to Judas Priest, Downing also appeared as a guest musician on Violent Storm on the album Storm Warning (2006).
In 2012 he played the song (opener) Eminence Front on the The Who All Star tribute album together with John Wetton and Derek Sherinian . The album was released on Cleopatra Records.
Surname
After Downing joke about the second K on his name during an interview on a radio show, many believed his middle name was Kevin. But in 1984 he announced the real reason:
“Kenneth Downing Jr. is my real name. A girl from Denmark couldn't pronounce it correctly and called me 'KK'. Really shitty. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ KK DOWNING retirement Press Release, http://www.judaspriest.com/news/fullstory.asp?id=31894B27-BD13-43BA-84F0-6A11B4F9D835
- ↑ KK Downing Official Website . Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ a b Interview with KK Downing ( memento of the original from October 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Homepage of KKDowning
- KK Downing in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Judas Priest website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Downing, KK |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Downing, Kenneth junior (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British co-founder and guitarist of the heavy metal band Judas Priest |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 27, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | West Bromwich , England |