More than 50 years later, Judas Priest is still going strong. The English heavy metal band just released their 19th album, Invisible Shield, making them the first heavy metal band to release studio albums five decades apart.
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Judas Priest’s Glenn Tipton Is Battling Parkinson’s Disease
Guitarist Glenn Tipton has been an integral part of the band’s success for the last half century. Tipton joined Judas Priest just before they recorded their debut album, Rocka Rolla, in 1974. Along with bassist Ian Hill, the 76-year-old rocker has appeared on every album since.
Unfortunately, health issues have forced Tipton to take a step back from the genre he helped pioneer. The guitarist announced in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a decade earlier. By 2018, Tipton could no longer handle the rigors of performing live.
Frontman Rob Halford suggested that Tipton continue to tour with the assistance of backing tapes or an additional guitarist offstage. However, Tipton nixed this idea, instead opting to sit out the band’s 2018 Firepower tour.
[RELATED: Judas Priest Announce The Invisible Shield Tour 2024]
Glenn Tipton Is Down But Not Out
The Blackheath, England native’s abilities haven’t completely forsaken him, however. Halford told Blabbermouth in 2018 that Tipton could still play the “simpler, easier” Judas Priest songs. Sadly, the more challenging tunes — including “Painkiller,” Tipton’s favorite solo — are now out of the question.
Still, the “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” legends are still happy to welcome Tipton to the stage whenever his capacity permits. On Tuesday (March 19), the longtime guitarist rejoined his bandmates onstage at the Resorts World Arena in their hometown of Birmingham, England.
Tipton took the stage for the encore, performing “Metal Gods” and “Living After Midnight.”
Tipton’s fellow guitarist, Richie Faulkner, said that his colleague was still very much a part of Invincible Shield, which dropped March 3.
“[Tipton] was able to sit in a studio [to] take time and play the ideas that he was putting forward,” Faulkner told Aquarian. “And when he had an idea and we were together, if he couldn’t play it that day, then he would translate it through me and we’d hash it out.”
Faulkner was a Judas Priest fan long before the band brought him aboard in 2011. He is committed to accommodating Tipton in any way he needs.
“If Glenn can play it, then he’ll play it, and if he can’t play it, then I’ll take on the workload,” Faulkner said. “I mean, what’s wrong with that? … It was important to us to involve him, and it probably was just as important for him to be involved as much as he could after doing it and being a genre-defining guitar player for the last 50 years.”
Featured image by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
