Former Judas Priest Guitarist K.K. Downing Sells His Publishing Rights To Round Hill Music


Following a financial downturn which included his failed plans for a luxury resort on his Golf Course property in the UK, former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has sold his share of his stake in the bands’ back catalog. This includes classic hit songs such as ‘Breaking The Law’, ‘Living After Midnight’, ‘Painkiller’ and many more. According to a published report by Billboard, Round Hill Music, a giant in the music publishing and licensing world has acquired Downing’s stake in the Priest songbook.

The stake includes Downing’s rights to 136 songs, that were put up for sale earlier this year. Downing’s luxury golf resort fell into administration (similar to Chapter 11 insolvency in the U.S.). As a result, the 320-acre estate, located in Shropshire, England, was put up for immediate sale with an asking price of more than £10 million ($13.5 million). According to administrators FRP Advisory LLP, who handled the rights sale, Downing’s catalog share generates between £250,000 (approximately $337,000) and £300,000 (approximately $405,000) a year.

The latest development comes two years after Downing bought out his Birmingham, U.K.-based partners, stating at the time that he was planning to build a leisure resort around his countryside golf course. The estate has an 18-hole, 71-par championship golf course and a stately home used for charity and corporate events. Administrators from FRP Advisory blamed “tougher economic times within the wider corporate hospitality market,” which had put “unsustainable pressure on the cashflow of the estate under its current financial structure.”

The sale was initiated by Alastair Massey and Steve Stokes from financial services firm FRP Advisory which is handling the administration of Ken Downing Ltd.