Former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing is in hot water with fans. The legendary rocker released a controversial AI-assisted music video from his band, KK’s Priest. In it, Downing, ex-Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens, and the band cover Judas Priest’s 1974 classic song “Never Satisfied”.

The clip features live performance footage of the band along with an AI-generated version of Downing as a young man on his journey to becoming a heavy metal godfather. “Yes, this is my life now, and I will not be content until I find out what is missing from all of our lives,” the AI-Downing avatar says in the clip. “There is something very special out there that so many need, and until I find it, I will never be satisfied.”

JPSR Studio, the company that made the video, acknowledges on its website that it uses AI tools in its video production.

KK’s Priest, featuring KK Downing, dropped a Judas Priest cover with an AI-assisted music video

“AI film today is where online video was twenty-six years ago – dismissed by the same rooms that will depend on it within a decade,” the company states. “We were part of pioneering the first wave. We intend to be part of pioneering this one. This isn’t just AI. It’s videography, special effects and sound engineering – a full production discipline – with an AI-native pipeline inside it.”

The new music video has certainly sparked some conversation, and not all of it pleasant. “Ugh! Do we need more AI today?” one person asked sarcastically. Someone else commented, “KK, you are Judas Priest; this version kills! The AI video sucks, but you are my hero.”

Speaking about the video, Downing defended the use of AI. “That video could not have been made without today’s modern technology – bringing myself to life in such an accurate way is quite beyond belief,” he said, per Louder. “It’s basically bringing to life something that’s absolutely impossible to create or film today without it.”

Additionally, Downing commented on the difference between Owens and longtime Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford. It was Halford who originally sang on “Never Satisfied”.

“Two great singers and performers,” says Downing. “I mean, you know, it’s going to be tough. I guess the main thing is that Rob would be associated with the archive legacy, the original going back when. But obviously, Ripper is sort of capable of doing the same thing, but with a slightly different delivery and tonality of the voice.”

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns

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Judas Priest legend Ian Hill retired from the band after suffering a serious injury. He was the band’s longest-serving member. Now he’s opened up about the horrifying moment he knew his career with the band was over.

Speaking to independent metal journalist Vladyslav Stadnyk (Metal Pilgrim), Hill, the longest-serving member of Judas Priest, discussed his decision to retire from the band. On Oct. 9, 2026, Hill announced his retirement and blamed the “evil arthritis,” as well as other injuries, for his necessary exit.

“It is funny, because the last couple of tours have been a bit of a struggle,” Hill said, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “Because this trouble is basically my shoulder and my thumb. [I’ve got a] great big lump on my thumb, which is all arthritis. I’ve been struggling with that for the past couple of tours or so. And it doesn’t go away, unfortunately, and it’s one of those things that just gets worse as time goes by.

Ian Hill was Judas Priest’s longest-serving member

Hill then confessed, “I almost retired at the end of the last tour.” he continued, “It’s funny the way it came about. Iron Maiden said, ‘Do you fancy doing a four-week tour of America this year?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, that sounds okay, a four-week tour of America, quick four weeks.’ Then they pulled out.”

“In the meantime, we’d put in Bloodstock in Britain, which is the festival in Britain,” he continued. “So you can’t tool up to do one show. So the next thing, ‘Oh, we’ll do one or two dates in Europe around Bloodstock.’ And nine weeks later… And that’s what did it. We did six shows in eight days.”

Hill went on to recall, “That was running up to Brussels, so that’s when the tendon snapped. Because we were averaging maybe a day on, a day off, day on, day off, so the crew could get to the next gig and what have you. And, of course, it was recovering on the days off. Obviously, I wasn’t doing anything, so it recovered. And then, of course, you go on stage, and you aggravate it all over again. But then it was sort of, like I say, six shows in eight days, and I’d never had time to recover.”

Arthritis and other injuries caused Hill to have to retire from Judas Priest

He then shared that it was “right before the encores on the Brussels show” that everything came crashing down. “I just felt a snap and a real sharp, searing pain,” he said. “I thought, ‘That’s it. That’s the end of it.'”

Even though he was injured, Hill remembered having to find a way to play through the pain. “For the encores,” he said, “I had to actually get my elbow and rest it on my stomach and pull the bass back so I could get down to the bottom of the neck.

Finally, he shared how his injury is doing these days. “It’s easing off a lot now,” he revealed. “I can sort of lift it and do things that I couldn’t do immediately after that. I mean, I couldn’t move it at all. From the elbow down, everything was fine. It worked a treat, but I just could not move my shoulder. And that’s why I had to miss the London show. I physically could not play the bass.”

Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images

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