Frontman Rob Halford came out as gay in an interview with MTV in 1998, said the demands were made by staff at the mayor’s office before a gig in 2012, that the band played by the rules, but that he thought him even being there was a political statement.

Halford told Mojo magazine: “When we played in St Petersburg recently, the mayor’s office told us not to make any references to gay rights. But I wouldn’t have wanted to do that anyway. I’m not an activist, but just me standing on that stage in that very homophobic place was a victory. I didn’t have to go on waving a rainbow banner. I am the rainbow flag of metal. I consider it a triumph, just the fact of us playing there.”