Kenneth Downing

Downing was born in West Bromwich, West Midlands. In the late 1960s, he developed a passion for rock music and the guitar, which led to his being kicked out of his home at age 15 and dropping out of school soon afterward. He is a mostly self-taught guitarist. He was heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, whom Downing said he was "very quick to recognize" as the future. He was also influenced by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Eric Clapton.

Downing started his first band, a pop band called Stagecoach, between the ages of 17 and 18, with his second cousin Brian Badhams on bass guitar (now with The Elkie Brooks Band) and drummer Martin Phillips. The trio "mainly jammed a few Cream songs and a few 12-bar blues". Downing played guitar with the band after winning a coin toss with Badhams "in his bedroom to see who would play guitar or bass". K. K. Downing attended catering college and worked as trainee chef at the Lyttelton Arms in Hagley. In 1970, Downing joined Judas Priest. In 1974, Glenn Tipton also joined the band, leading to a two guitarist arrangement.