K. K. Downing

Quick Facts

Full Name	K. K. Downing
Occupation	Composer
Date Of Birth	Oct 27, 1951(1951-10-27)
Age	73
Birthplace	West Bromwich
Country	United Kingdom
Birth City	England
Horoscope	Libra

K. K. Downing Biography

K. K. Downing is one of the most popular and richest Composer who was born on October 27, 1951 in West Bromwich, England, United Kingdom. Kenneth “K. K.” Downing Jr. (born 27 October 1951) is a British musician as well as co-founder and former guitar player of heavy metal group Judas Priest, and an author.

Downing is known for his aggressive rock-inspired guitar style that includes solos and double leads along with his fellow Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton. The solos of Downing remained in the same style throughout his career, however, Downing would incorporate various techniques into his playing throughout the decades. Contrary to Tipton his solos, his tend to have an acoustic rough-edged sound. He made use of techniques like diving bombs and tremolo-picking, typically focussed the speed of his playing, as well as technical precision and melodies. Beginning with Stained Class onward, Tipton became more prominent when it came to Judas Priest’s songwriting. He was particularly dominant on more commercial tracks and Downing’s part as a member of the group began to decrease, particularly as Tipton’s tracks comprised the majority of Judas Priest’s live setlists following the year 1980. Since 1978, Tipton was able to introduce tapping techniques into his music as well, which Downing started to employ too. In the year 1990 the two Tipton and Downing started using the intricate technique of sweep-picking. This is evident during the song title from their album Painkiller. They’ve been using this technique ever since.

Downing contributed guitar work on the song “Something Weird” on King Diamond’s 1989 album Conspiracy.

Downing made a guest appearance on Violent Storm’s 2005 self-titled debut album, performing on the track “War No More”.

After having not performed on stage since Judas Priest’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of their album British Steel in 2009, Downing returned live in the 2019 edition Bloodstock. Bloodstock Open Air festival where he was joined by the former Manowar guitar player Ross the Boss while they performed the tracks “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)”, “Heading Out to the Highway”, “Breaking the Law” and “Running Wild”. He described it as “a bit of a whirlwind” and the perfect opportunity to return to the stage. He also mentioned that there was a very short time to prepare because some band members showed up on the day before the rehearsal scheduled “But we did manage to squeeze an hour or so in the following day.” The show was described as “a jam, really… And there was quite a bit of improvisation in there. And that’s where it is.” A tweet from one of his fans, Richie Faulkner praised Downing’s performance after watching the footage on video commenting that the singer “looked and sounded great. Good to see the man up on stage where he belongs again.”

K. K. Downing Net Worth

K. K. Downing is one of the richest Composer from United Kingdom. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, K. K. Downing 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Downing was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire. He was exiled from his home when he was 15, and was expelled from school soon afterward. In the mid- sixties, Downing discovered rock music as well as the guitar. He was a self- taught musician. “He was heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, whom he was ‘very quick to recognise as the future'”. He also was influenced by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Eric Clapton. Downing was featured throughout all Judas Priest album, from Rocka Rolla all the way to A Touch of Evil: Live.

Through Judas Priest’s early days, Downing made common use of the wah-wah pedal but he started to limit his use of it by the latter part of the 1970s. He had stopped making use of it by mid-1980s but had saved it for live performances of songs which originally included the pedal. The only time when he started using it once more was in the year 1996 the year that the vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens joined the group, then they decided to play on their songs more often than before. One of these included the return of the the wah-wah effect in Downing’s playing that can be heard on the album released in 1997 Jugulator. This idea was further explored on the album Demolition from 2001 however, it was abandoned once again when the band’s former lead singer Rob Halford, returned to the group in 2003. The band’s drummer, however, Downing used a wah-wah pedal for his final shows with the group.

Downing’s first own house was a “tiny semi in Bloxwich”. He has lived in Los Angeles and Florida and but no longer owns a home in Spain, but his main abode since 1985 remains Astbury Hall in Shropshire. It is in a very secluded area so he can (as stated in a 2007 interview) “really turn up [his] Marshalls really loud”. Astbury Hall is also home to “one of England’s finest championship golf courses”, a course created by Downing himself and where he has held publicised charity events. Sarah Lissimore, his former girlfriend, mounted a legal challenge for half of his Shropshire estate. This was based on his assertion, “I’d bet you’d love to be lady of this Manor, wouldn’t you?” The High Court of Justice rejected the notion that this assertion could give rise to proprietary estoppel in favour of Lissimore.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

K. K. Downing height Not available right now. K. weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is K. K. Downing Dating?

According to our records, K. K. Downing is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, K. K. Downing’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for K. K. Downing. You may help us to build the dating records for K. K. Downing!

Due to the circumstances surrounding his golf resort investment, Downing placed a share of his royalty rights for 136 Judas Priest songs for sale; the catalogue generates nearly £300,000 ($400,000) per year. Joint administrator Alastair Massey called the songs “a unique investment opportunity” from one of the “driving influences” of Judas Priest’s success. In July 2018, Round Hill Music acquired the royalty rights to Downing’s compositions; the catalogue’s asking price was at least £10 million ($13.5 million). He later explained about the sellings of his estate, his golf course and his royalty rights of 136 Judas Priest songs, “I’m in the process now of recovering everything else through the legal channels. I made a few rubbish business moves, but I can’t complain really because I did okay. Lots of musicians end up with nothing really, but I had an evaluation on the estate worth in excess of £13 million. Quite a few million pounds’ worth of music royalties and other assets as well. I’m suing my lawyers for negligence.”

Facts & Trivia

K. Ranked on the list of most popular Composer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United Kingdom. K. K. Downing celebrates birthday on October 27 of every year.

In 2018, Downing, along with former Judas Priest members Tim “Ripper” Owens and Les Binks, and Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera were featured in a cover version of the song “Beyond the Realms of Death”, fronted by guitarist Paul Crook’s band Devilstar, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Judas Priest’s 1978 album Stained Class.

Why did KK Downing leave Priest?

Downing left Judas Priest in 2011 due to personal and professional differences with his bandmates. But after Tipton transitioned into a lesser role in 2018 due to Parkinson’s disease, Downing began suggesting publicly that he should return to the band to pick up the slack.

What does KK stand for in KK Downing?

K. K. Downing
Born| 27 October 1951 West Bromwich, England
Genres| Heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation(s)| Musician, songwriter
Instruments| Guitar

Are Glenn Tipton and KK Downing friends?

Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton has spoken to Guitar World about the fractious relationship between the band and their former guitarist KK Downing , revealing that he’s chosen to break his silence on the simmering feud as his former friend has been levelling “sillier and sillier” accusations at both Priest, and …

Will KK Downing rejoin Priest?

K.K. Downing Will Join Judas Priest at Rock Hall Ceremony , Band Confirms. Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing will join his ex- bandmates when Priest accept the Award for Musical Excellence at the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this November.

Did Judas Priest break up?

Rob Halford left Judas Priest in 1992 and rejoined in 2003 , though he really never wanted to leave at all. According to Halford in a recent interview with Heavy1, the split happened over a communication breakdown that he detailed in his new autobiography Confess. Advertisement.