Richie Faulkner got his first guitar when he was around 8 or 9 years old. His father played guitar and was into bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix. When Richie was about thirteen years old he worked in a local music shop. The guy that ran the store was also in a cover band playing songs from Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, and UFO. He asked Richie to play a couple songs at some their gigs, and that was his introduction to the world of gigging. His first signed band was called Dirty Deeds and they recorded an album that was produced by Steve Harris from Iron Maiden.

In 2011 he got the call from Judas Priest’s management to arrange a meeting with the band after guitarist K.K. Downing left the group. Richie met with Rob Halford and Glenn Tipton.

“We discussed what they wanted, what they didn’t want, and they also discussed what I wanted and didn’t want,” he says. “They wanted someone who was in the band and someone with their own ideas and opinions and their own wants and needs."

Richie understood that they didn’t want a hired gun and added, "They wanted someone who gave a thousand percent to the band and they’d give a thousand percent back.”

Check out this video from Rock Scene Magazine.

Big Concerts has confirmed that Judas Priest will be heading to South Africa for the very first time performing in Cape Town on March 20th, 2019 at Grand Arena, GrandWest and March 22nd, 2019 in Johannesburg at the Ticketpro Dome.

Tickets go on sale Friday, September 28th at 9 AM. Go to bigconcerts.com for all the information. Discovery Cardholders get an exclusive 48-hour pre-sale from today Wednesday, September 26th. Go to discovery.co.za for more information.