Happy Birthday today to two iconic figures of hard rock, the firebreathing demon of KISS, Gene Simmons, and the wailing, high-pitched and demonic bottom-ended harbringer of all things early British heavy metal, Rob Halford of Judas Priest.

Both men are downright revolutionary in what they bring and continue to bring to their respective bands, although arguably Kiss and Judas Priest while certainly equally loved by fans of hard rock/heavy metal, are two decidedly different bands for sure.

Simmons was born Chaim Weitz in Haifa, Israel on August 25, 1949. It has been written that Simmons’ mother, Florence, and her brother Larry, survived the Holocaust a few years before Chaim was born. The Weitz family moved to Queens, New York when Chaim was 8 years old. By the time he was a teenager, he became known as Gene Simmons, and started tooling around in local bands, first one called Lynx, then The Missing Links, and others as well. About a half a decade went by when he formed Wicked Lester with himself on bass and buddy Stanley Harvey Eisen on rhythm guitar and lead vocals (Eisen also eventually sported a moniker change and became known as Paul Stanley.) Wicked Lester went through some crisis modes with their lineups and ended with the two disbanding that unit even though a record deal had been in place. For their next project, the two found a drummer in Peter Criscoula and a lead guitarist in Paul Frehley. THOSE two changed their names as well to Peter Criss and Ace Frehley respectively and thus the new quartet, known as KISS, was born.

Rob Halford is the Metal God, and with good reason. The lead singer of metal legends Judas Priest, currently on their final tour entitled Epitaph, recently had a bit of a fall off his motorcycle onstage, when riding on during the band’s performance of “Hell Bent For Leather.” The true metal professional that he is, Halford gets right back up again and continues kicking it with the band onstage. View video footage of the incident at the bottom of this post.

I despise American Idol. It goes against every fiber of belief I have in music. The Simon Cowell Cookie Cutter Factory of creating “stars” really gets on my last nerve. Despite my negativity towards the-show-that-distracts-millions, I can’t help but write about it at the moment, because metal gods Judas Priest made a guest appearance on the series finale the other night – and blew the whole show out of the water with a great performance, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

My hatred for American Idol aside, you have to admit that this is a good move for Priest in the publicity department. As reported here numerous times, the band are about to embark on their farewell tour, and making an impressive appearance on a show like this is a good way to get the word out beyond the regular fan base.

Judas Priest has released a new promo image on their Facebook page highlighting their new line-up for their upcoming tour — and you can see the larger version at the bottom of this post. As previously reported here, the band announced their final tour, which they’ve titled The Farewell EPITAPH World Tour.

Following this announcement, it was revealed that guitarist K.K. Downing had formally retired from the band and will not be joining them on tour. Stepping into Downing’s shoes for the tour will be Richie Faulkner, who previously performed with Lauren Harris, daughter of Steve Harris from Iron Maiden.

Downing recently also released a formal statement on his official website regarding his retirement.

The classic Ozzy Osbourne albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman, are scheduled to be reissued in May 2011. The two albums are cited by metalheads around the world as classics, and were indeed an important chapter in the evolution of metal during the 1980’s. They are the first two recordings by Ozzy following his years in Black Sabbath, and were key releases in him reasserting his position as the “Prince of Fucking Darkness!”

Lots of good new stuff has been included with these reissues, scheduled for release on May 31, 2011, and fans will have some different versions to choose from.

First up is the 30th Anniversary Edition of Blizzard of Ozz, including the entire original album recording that has been remastered by George Marino for the release. This CD will also have bonus tracks added, including a rare guitar solo from Randy Rhoads.

Second is the Diary of a Madman: Legacy Edition. This release will be a special 2-disc/double-album. The first disc will be entire original recording of the album, also remastered by Marino. The second disc is a live album, simply titled Ozzy Live, and is a recording from the Blizzard of Ozz tour. Third on the list is a single-disc version of Diary of a Madman.