Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens Slams Vocalists Who Sing Differently Live

Some musicians adjust how they perform certain songs live to make it easier on themselves, while others are completely opposed to making a song sound different than its studio version. Tim “Ripper” Owens is of the latter group, and has slammed vocalists, in particular, who change how they sing their songs live.

Owens, who sang for Judas Priest from 1996 until 2003, now sings for K.K. Downing‘s KK’s Priest, and their latest album The Sinner Rides Again just came out last month. The singer discussed the sound of the new album, especially his vocals, during a conversation on The Metal Mixtape, asserting that he can sing everything live the way it sounds on the record.

“I’m so sick of watching singers… And I don’t care, I’m 56, I’ve seen singers in their 50s that still couldn’t do it. I’m so sick of watching singers — I know they can do it, but they change their songs,” he explained. “They lower it, they make new melodies and they hit a high note for a second. And it’s, like, ‘Dude, sing what you wrote. Sing what you wrote.’ I understand it gets tougher. But I can sing Sermons of the Sinner. And these songs, the KK’S Priest songs are harder to sing than the classic Priest songs, except maybe ‘Metal Meltdown.'”

Owens was asked why he thinks some singers struggle to perform their songs live, and he replied that he thinks some vocalists simply aren’t good at singing live. He added that as great as some songs are, many of them sound “manufactured” and use auto-tune on parts that won’t be able to reproduced live as a result. Thus, the vocalists have to adjust the way they sing the songs onstage.

“They’ve made up their own version to make them be able to sing — which is fine, because there’s gonna be times where I’ll have to do that to a song or I might lower a word, but I try to stick to it. I mean, you would see singers like Ronnie [James] Dio. He wasn’t going off… If he changed the version, he probably made it harder. He would sing it live.”

READ MORE: The Most Controversial Singers in Rock + Metal

Check out the full interview below.

KK’s Priest don’t currently have any upcoming tour dates, but you can check out The Sinner Rides Again at this location in the meantime.

Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens Slams Vocalists Who Change How They Sing Songs Live