Former JUDAS PRIEST and current KK’S PRIEST guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing has released a new version of JUDAS PRIEST‘s classic song “Never Satisfied”. The track, which also features former JUDAS PRIEST and current KK’S PRIEST vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, can be streamed below.
The original version of “Never Satisfied” appeared on JUDAS PRIEST‘s 1974 debut album, “Rocka Rolla”, and was written by Downing and JUDAS PRIEST‘s original lead vocalist Al Atkins.
“We just had fun in a spare bedroom, trying to create something different,” Downing told Ultimate Classic Rock about “Never Satisfied”‘s conception. “We wrote quite a lot of stuff and then we went on the road. In my memory, ‘Never Satisfied’ was always in the set. When Al left and Rob [Halford] joined, then we were on the road for at least a couple of years. We had the song in the set [at that time] with Rob singing it as well.”
Downing told Ultimate Classic Rock that the idea for a “Never Satisfied” re-recording came about after last year’s 50th-anniversary reissue of “Rocka Rolla”. “I thought, ‘I’m just going to plug the guitar in and have a go at jamming along to a couple of these songs,'” he remembered. “I just had fun doing it and I thought I would put the track down and ask Ripper if he’d do the courtesy of throwing a vocal on there. It came about really quickly and it was fun.”
The remixed and remastered version of “Rocka Rolla” was released digitally in the U.S. and Canada last September. The CD and vinyl versions of “Rocka Rolla – 50th Anniversary: Remixed And Remastered 1974 – 2024” arrived in November.
In addition to Downing and Owens, KK’S PRIEST features guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE).
KK’S PRIEST‘s summer/fall 2024 North American tour with ACCEPT began on August 31, 2024 in Los Angeles, California, visiting a slew of major cities in the USA and Canada — such as Toronto, Montreal, New York and Nashville — before coming to an end in San Francisco, California on October 7, 2024.
KK’S PRIEST‘s first-ever U.S. headlining tour, which featured support from L.A. GUNS and BURNING WITCHES, kicked off on March 7, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and concluded on March 24, 2024 at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
KK’S PRIEST‘s sophomore album, “The Sinner Rides Again”, came out in September 2023 via the Austrian label Napalm Records.
KK’S PRIEST made its live debut on July 6, 2023 at Downing’s KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
K.K. formed KK’S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour. It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.
KK’S PRIEST released its debut album, “Sermons Of The Sinner”, in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.
Downing spent four months writing and recording “Sermons Of The Sinner” and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the 1980s.
Downing was reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in November 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
PRIEST received the Musical Excellence Award at the event, which honored Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.
Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.
In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band’s 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.
In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as “a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music,” while the second was “angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties.”
Downing later said that he believed the second letter was “a key reason” he wasn’t invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton‘s decision to retire from touring.
Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997’s “Jugulator” and 2001’s “Demolition” — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.
Photo credit: Mind Art Visual
