Rob Halford revealed last fall that his prostate cancer was in remission after a private four-year battle.
The Judas Priest frontman says he's lucky to be okay, but he added in a new interview that the whole ordeal could have been much easier if he followed his doctor's orders from the beginning.
"Guys and girls, you've gotta look after yourself," Halford told Full Metal Jackie. "You've gotta keep this temple, you've gotta keep the heavy metal temple clean and ready to deal with whatever comes your way. And one of them, for me, was my prostate cancer issue."
Halford explained that he first got an inkling that something was wrong after a checkup found that his prostate-specific antigen levels were high. The Metal God says he foolishly delayed further testing or treatment so as not to delay a tour.
"So I missed a couple of opportunities whereby if I had had the treatment earlier, the treatment wouldn't have been as difficult as it was," Halford said. "But hey, we got through it. I had a wonderful team of medical people that looked after me in Phoenix."
The singer details the experience in the updated edition of his memoir, Confess. He says he spent a lot of time feeling sorry for himself when he should have been grateful for the treatment and care that was available to him.
Judas Priest is about to wrap up a North American tour. The band will tour Europe through the summer, with plans to finish recording its new album later this year.