As frontrunners of the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden made perfect sense as tour mates — and the latter were wise to create some healthy competition when they joined the former’s British Steel tour on March 7, 1980.Both bands typified the subgenre coined by the British press, which fused the technicality of heavy metal with the speed and intensity of punk rock. They rubbed elbows with the likes of Def Leppard, Motorhead and Saxon, even though several of those groups rejected the classification.”Now, a lot of bands dislike being co-opted into music journalists’ manufactured movements and lazily pigeonholed, but I liked the idea of the New Wave,” Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford reflected in his 2020 memoir Confess. “I figured, after years of being ignored, it was nice for metal to get a bit of attention for a change. It felt like validation.”READ MORE: How Judas Priest Came Alive on ‘Unleashed in the East’How ‘British Steel’ Turned Judas Priest Into Metal GodsJudas Priest was about to get much more validation on a global scale. In April 1980 they would release their sixth album, British Steel, which would become a cornerstone of ’80s metal. Bolstered by the hits “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking the Law,” British Steel would become a Top 5 hit on the British charts and pierce the Top 40 in the United States, transforming Judas Priest into an arena-filling concert draw.The buzz was already building when Judas Priest kicked off their British Steel tour, and who better to join them than Iron Maiden? The plucky rockers had generated hype with their debut single “Running Free,” released in February 1980, and their self-titled debut album would arrive in April at the same time as British Steel.Iron Maiden was lauded for their take-no-prisoners performance style and boisterous attitude. So when asked about the Judas Priest tour, frontman Paul Di’Anno did what anybody in his position would have done: he threw the gauntlet down.READ MORE: Iron Maiden Live Albums Ranked Worst to BestIron Maiden Threatened to ‘Blow Judas Priest Off Stage Every Night'”On the eve of the tour, [Iron Maiden] did a music-press interview in which their then-singer, Paul Di’Anno, said they would blow Judas Priest off stage every night,” Halford recalled. “I wasn’t remotely bothered by this, because a) they were wrong, and b) that was the kind of thing cocky young bands were supposed to say! We had tried to do it to every major band we had supported, so why shouldn’t they? I found it funny.”Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing didn’t share Halford’s sentiment. “He was offended and outraged by the comment and demanded that we kick Maiden off the tour,” Halford wrote. “The rest of us said that would be a daft overreaction to a flippant remark, but he was absolutely livid.”Cooler heads prevailed, and Judas Priest launched the European leg of their British Steel tour at Cardiff University in Wales on March 7, 1980, with Iron Maiden in tow. Despite both bands’ buzz and mutual commitment to excellence, they didn’t fraternize much off stage — except for one potentially awkward moment that luckily didn’t escalate.”We didn’t really hang out and banter with Maiden much on that tour, but maybe I took Di’Anno’s comment that he would blow Priest offstage too literally … because the one night we got drunk together, I tried to seduce him!” Halford wrote. “We went to my room to carry on drinking, but I was too pissed to try anything, and he was too pissed to even know what I wanted to try.”He added: “I think that was definitely for the best.”READ MORE: Judas Priest Lineup Changes: A Complete GuideJudas Priest and Iron Maiden Later Buried the HatchetThe pairing was clearly a success, as Iron Maiden went on to support Judas Priest on tour in 1981 and 1982. Years later, Di’Anno would acknowledge the absurdity of his Judas Priest comments, noting that he and his bandmates were all big fans of their tour mates.”If I remember correctly, some paper was published saying that Maiden had been slagging off Priest, or something like that,” Di’Anno told Rock Hard in 2004. “But I’m sure that it was a load of bollocks ’cause we were all Judas Priest fans. The whole story got blown out of proportion, like [is] usually the case, but I’m pretty sure that there isn’t any resentment anymore, ’cause I’ve met Rob Halford or the boys from Priest quite often and everything always went really well.”Downing also maintained that, despite Di’Anno’s tough talk, Judas Priest ruled the roost on the British Steel tour. “Can I just say, they didn’t blow the bollocks off Judas Priest,” the guitarist told Eddie Trunk in 2018. “We were pretty well established at the time, and those guys were coming up through the ranks. So that happened. But it wasn’t a good atmosphere on the tour, and it’s not something I like to have happen.”Nevertheless, both groups eventually mended fences. Downing recalled: “I did meet Paul Di’Anno some years later, in about 1985, and he said, ‘Hey, K.K., we’re sorry about that quote in the paper.’ And that’s all you need.”Judas Priest Albums RankedThey don’t call ’em Metal Gods for nothing.Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock StaffNext: Iron Maiden Albums Ranked Worst to Best