British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST have announced "The Best Of Judas Priest," a career-spanning compilation due June 19 via Sony Music — a timely release coinciding with the final stretch of the band's "Faithkeepers" farewell world tour.
The collection arrives as JUDAS PRIEST wind down their live career in spectacular fashion. "Faithkeepers" has been delivering some of the most celebrated metal performances of recent years, with the band reportedly revisiting deep catalog cuts alongside immortal classics. The tour's final European dates include seven shows with NEVERMORE providing support, concluding at the Eventim Apollo in London.
For new listeners, "The Best Of Judas Priest" serves as the essential entry point to a catalog spanning over fifty years and roughly twenty studio albums. From the primal metal of "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight" to the progressive grandeur of "Painkiller," the speed metal perfection of "Screaming For Vengeance," and the NWOBHM fire of "British Steel," JUDAS PRIEST's range is genuinely staggering.
The compilation also serves as a monument to the singular voice of Rob Halford — one of the most powerful and distinctive vocalists in rock history. From his operatic high notes on "Victim Of Changes" to the glass-shattering shriek of "Painkiller," Halford's performances remain the gold standard for heavy metal singing.
JUDAS PRIEST, alongside IRON MAIDEN, represent the apex of British heavy metal — two bands whose influence on the genre is so total and pervasive that virtually every metal band working today owes them a direct or indirect debt. Their impact spans raw early efforts like "Rocka Rolla" through the polished commercial peak of "Screaming For Vengeance" all the way to the ferocious late-career assault of "Firepower."
For fans attending the "Faithkeepers" tour's concluding dates, seeing JUDAS PRIEST live in 2026 is increasingly understood as a once-in-a-generation farewell. "The Best Of Judas Priest" is both a celebration of that legacy and a final, definitive document of a career without equal in British metal.