JUST NOW: Glenn Tipton announces his leaving the music industry due to…..
Six years ago, Judas Priest was dealt a blow when guitarist Glenn Tipton announced his retirement from touring with the band because he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It forced the band to seek outside help for their live shows, resulting in Andy Sneap becoming a part of the band’s live lineup, leaving just Rob Halford and Ian Hill as the remaining founding members.
In the years since, Tipton’s been able to join the band on stage occasionally and contribute to the writing of both Firepower and Invincible Shield, because as he said in a recent interview with Total Guitar, he’s not going to stop doing what he loves.
With an average age of about 65 years old, the dudes in Judas Priest have been doing their thing for a long fucking time. They just released a pretty kick ass album Invincible Shield earlier this month and they show now sign that they want to stop playing shows all over the world. Yet, with three out of the five members being in their 70s, how long could they really keep that up?
That was effectively what an interviewer with Germany’s Rock Antenne asked legendary frontman Rob Halford during a recent stop on the show. Does Judas Priest have a finite shelf life? Could we have heard the last new music from a band that’s been around since the late 60s?
The answer to the iconic septuagenarian singer? Not even close. According to Halford, even thinking about the band’s inevitable end is a net negative, as it could create some bad feelings within the band as they’re still cooking.
