K. K. Downing

Ken “K.K.” Downing is a guitarist and founding member of heavy metal band Judas Priest. He formed the band at the age of sixteen after getting kicked out of his home by his abusive father and the band eventually found success during the New Wave of British heavy metal in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, paving the way for numerous heavy metal acts to follow. K.K. retired from the band in 2010 and now spends his time running his Astbury Hall estate in Shropshire, England, and overseeing the golf course he designed there.