"I love what I do and I'm in my golden years as a metal singer," Halford, calling from his home in San Diego, said during an interview with LiveDaily. "I turn 58 this coming August, which I'm excited about. I'm even more excited about when I turn 60, but that's jumping the gun. I want to stay associated with everything that I love for as long as I possibly can. Having these avenues like the record label and the clothing line and other things, keep me vibrant and in a world that I don't want to let go of."

This July, he will add even more product to the metal world when Judas Priest releases "A Touch of Evil -- Live," which features such Priest gems as "Riding on the Wind," "Beyond the Realms of Death," "Dissident Aggressor," "A Touch of Evil," "Eat Me Alive" and the set-closing "Painkiller." Also of note are the first live-album appearances of standouts from Judas Priest's critically acclaimed 2008 concept album, "Nostradamus" ("Death" and "Prophecy").

"It's the first live album in a while from Priest," Halford said. "We recorded loads and loads of shows over the past couple of tours that we've done. We've tried to do basically something we had not done before, which is put in tracks that we've never released live in this format. I'm really pleased about it.

"It's a very, very strong, heavy, aggressive set of tunes. It really shows the determination of the band three decades later, that we can still play our metal with the same passion and power that we've always had."

Halford explained that Judas Priest is able to do that because the band members simply love what they do.

"If you love what you do, you're going to put your heart and soul into it and that's what we do in Priest," he said. "You have to think consistently about your longevity. If you've had a long journey in rock 'n' roll, you put value and importance to those songs, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of times you've played them. Because at that particular moment when you're standing on the stage in, say, the Detroit area and you're playing 'Breaking the Law' for what may feel like the millionth time, it's for the first time in that moment in time."

This summer, Judas Priest is celebrating the upcoming 30th anniversary of the "British Steel," originally issued in April 1980, by performing the album in its entirety for the first time on stages across the United States. In addition, the group will be playing some old favorites. (See itinerary below.)

"We'll be recording all these shows and, at some point, we'll bring cameras in and we'll release a wonderful package of the Priest and 'British Steel' next year, which is the official 30th birthday," said Halford.

"We wanted to do something a bit different on the second leg of the American tour," he added. "The first tour with Metal Masters was a great success. We were looking to give this particular tour another kind of exciting event edge to it. I think that's what we've got with presenting 'British Steel,' and we have some other great people with us. We have David [Coverdale] and Whitesnake. That's another great opportunity to see two of these bands back to back. We have Pop Evil opening for us, which are doing great things in rock radio right now. They have a Top 10 rock-radio track right now, so it's got to be exciting for those boys. So, all in all, it's going to be a real wonderful night out for metal heads and rock heads."

For next year, Halford said, he is planning a tour that features "Nostradamus" in its entirety, plus the hits.

"It was a massive moment for the band and we still feel we need to do the ultimate experience, which is perform all of 'Nostradamus' live; now that will definitely be next year," he said. "It's such a big event that we can't do it this year. Of course, 'British Steel' came up and surprised us. We want to take care of that moment first."