Photo: Tilly antoine / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Tim Owens has one of the great underdog stories in metal: a working-class kid from Akron singing in a Judas Priest tribute band who got the call to actually front the band he idolized. That fairy-tale leap, immortalized in Rock Star, would be enough on its own, but what keeps me a fan is the voice. Those soaring high notes on Jugulator and his tenure with Iced Earth proved he was no mere stand-in. Replacing Rob Halford was an impossible task, yet Ripper earned genuine respect by being relentlessly himself. He is a reminder that sometimes the dream really does come true.
Overview
Tim "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967, in Akron, Ohio) is an American heavy metal vocalist. He rose to fame after being recruited from a Judas Priest tribute band to become the lead singer of Judas Priest itself, a remarkable story that loosely inspired the film Rock Star. He later sang for Iced Earth and has appeared in numerous other metal projects, earning a reputation for his powerful and wide-ranging voice.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Tim "Ripper" Owens
- Name (Japanese)
- ティム・オーウェンズ
- Reading
- てぃむ・おーうぇんず
- Born
- September 13, 1967 (age 58)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Goat
- Origin
- Akron, Ohio, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Singer / Guitarist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Berklee College of Music
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Guitarist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.