Jim Beal Jr. from the San Antonio Express spoke with JUDAS PRIEST guitar legend Glenn Tipton recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the departure of guitarist K.K. Downing: "“Ken was having a lot of problems with his wrists. He was really struggling on the last tour. When he decided to retire from the band we were pretty much in shock. We waited three months to see what would happen. We decided if we could find the right guy we'd go on. We contacted quite a few guitar players. Richie (Faulkner) stepped into the band and it's like he was always there. He does the essence of what Ken did, but in his own way. It's been wonderful, really, but nobody wanted to see Ken go.”

On their classic material: "A band is really only as good as its songs. Every now and then, with a combination of writers, we struck a chord with listeners. We've always been proud to be a metal band, but the songs are easy to relate to. But you can't pat yourselves on the back and say you deliberately wrote these songs. We've recorded 17 studio albums and performed for millions of people and we've always evolved.”

On the Epitaph Tour: “This is our last world tour. It takes 18 months to stage a world tour. After 40 years, we decided it's possibly time to pull back a little bit. It's not absolutely the end of the band. I'd say perhaps it's the beginning of the end.”

Read the entire interview at Mysanantonio.com.

Judas Priest will guest on the Friday, October 7th edition of NBC-TV's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The show airs at 12:35 AM (EST) (early Saturday morning, October 8th). For more details visit Latenightwithjimmyfallon.com.

How would you like a chance to be close to Judas Priest’s performance on the show? Click on the link here and you will be directed to our Band Bench Sweepstakes entry form. Enter for a chance to win seats on our band benches and an opportunity to surround the stage during Judas Priest’s performance. Make sure you include the following band code: JUD, in your entry form.

Sony Music recently announced the release of a unique Judas Priest album. The Chosen Few is an album curated by Judas Priest’s contemporaries in the music world – each artist picking their own favourite Priest track and explaining why it is special to them.

Included are legends such as OZZY OSBOURNE, METALLICA's James Hetfield, ALICE COOPER, DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliott, SLASH, MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy, SLAYER's Kerry King and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR). All build an album from the very best of Judas Priest – from 1977’s 'Diamonds And Rust' through to 1990’s 'Painkiller'.

Some of heavy metal's elite weigh in on their selections on The Chosen Few:

Lars Ulrich (Metallica) on 'Beyond The Realms Of Death' - “The blueprint for the epic rock ballad. Copied thousands of times, never eclipsed.”

Ozzy Osbourne on 'The Ripper' - “This has always been one of my favorite Judas Priest songs… I just want to know what the fuck that note is that Rob Halford hits in the beginning of the song. Fucking hell!! That note is probably just below what only dogs can hear.”

Alice Cooper on 'Living After Midnight' - “For a metal band, Priest has always used tons of melody... when you have a singer as great as Rob Halford, you have to write great riffs WITH great melodies, you can’t just have riffs. 'Living After Midnight' is the perfect example…”

Slash on 'Screaming For Vengeance' - “Judas Priest have put out their fair share of great albums to be sure. But my all time favourite is 'Screaming For Vengeance'. It was and still is, one of the best metal records ever produced and the title track is in my humble opinion, still ahead of its time.”

Corey Taylor on 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' - "“Judas Priest: the blueprint for the ultimate heavy metal band...”

The Chosen Few tracklisting:

'Diamonds And Rust' (1977) - chosen by Joe Elliott (DEF LEPPARD)

'Dissident Aggressor' (1977) - chosen by STEVE VAI

'Exciter' (1978) - chosen by ACCEPT

'Beyond The Realms Of Death' (1978) - chosen by Lars Ulrich (METALLICA)

'Delivering The Goods' (1979) - chosen by Kerry King (SLAYER)

'The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)' (1979) - chosen by David Coverdale (WHITESNAKE) & Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD)

'The Ripper' (1979) - chosen by OZZY OSOBURNE

'Victim Of Changes' (1979) - chosen by James Hetfield (Metallica)

'Breaking The Law' (1980) - chosen by Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD)

'Rapid Fire' (1980) - chosen by Vinnie Paul (PANTERA, HELL YEAH)

'Grinder' (1980) - chosen by Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)

'Living After Midnight' (1980) - chosen by ALICE COOPER & Geezer Butler (BLACK SABBATH)

'Screaming For Vengeance' (1982) - chosen by Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)

'You’ve Got Another Thing Coming' (1982) - chosen by Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS) & Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT)

'The Sentinel' (1984) - chosen by Chris Jericho (FOZZY)

'Turbo Lover' (1986) - chosen by Jonathan Davis (KORN)

'Painkiller' (1990) - chosen by JOE SATRIANI

Confirmed Judas Priest North American dates with THIN LIZZY and BLACK LABVEL SOCIETY include:

October

12 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T; Center
14 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Ampitheater
15 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
16 - Dallas, TX - Allen Event Center
18 - Tuscon, AZ - Ava Ampitheater
19 - San Diego, CA - Cricket Wireless Ampitheater
21 - Phoenix, AZ - AZ State Fair
22 - San Bernadino, CA - SAn Mauel Ampitheater
23 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock
25 - Bakersfield, CA - Rabobank Arena
26 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
27 - Concord, CA - Sleep Trail Pavillion
29 - Seattle, WA - WaMy Theater
30 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena

November

1 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Center
2 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
4 - Salt Lake City, UT - Maverik Center
5 - Denver, CO - 1st Bank Center
8 - Cincinnati, OH - US Bank Arena
9 - Springfield, IL - Prairie Capital Convention Center
10 - St. Louis, MO - The Family Arena
12 - Chicago, IL - The Venue At Horeshoe Casino
13 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena
15 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
16 - Rochester, NY - The Armory
18 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
19 - Johnstown, PA - Cambria County War Memorial
20 - Lowell, MA - Paul E Tsongas Arena
22 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
23 - Quebec City, QC - Colisee Pepsi Arena
24 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
26 - Reading, PA - Sovereign Center
27 - Winston-Salem, NC - Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum
30 - Tampa, FL - 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre

December

1 - Miami, FL - Bayfront Park Amphitheatre,
3 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Biloxi Hotel & Casino

Judas Priest have also announced a string of Japanese tour dates for February. The itinerary includes:

February

7 - Sunpalace - Fukuoka, Japan
9 - Cacifico - Yokohama, Japan
11 - Kokusai Hall - Kobe, Japan
13 - Alsok Hall - Hiroshima, Japan
14 - Prefectural Arts Theater - Aichi, Japan
16 - Budokan - Tokyo, Japan