Due to the nature of his Parkinson's progression, Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton recently announced his retirement from touring life, requesting that Andy Sneap fly the flag on stage for him.

Tipton's former bandmate, guitarist K.K. Downing, then issued a statement in regards to Glenn's announcement.

Within the statement, Downing said, "I know Andy Sneap - and he is one of the greatest contributors to rock and metal that you will ever have the privilege to meet. To that end I have no doubt that his contribution to the new Judas Priest album was much more than just as a producer. All that’s left is for you the fans to go out and enjoy the band as it is, in order to complete a part of music history in which every one of you has played such an important role.”

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford responded to K.K.'s comment with a statement of his own, which reads in part: "Downing's hidden suggestion that Andy Sneap would have recorded Glenn's parts on (the forthcoming) Firepower is a thousand percent false. I was there when Glenn worked really hard to record the guitar for the album. It's a real achievement after ten years of Parkinson's."

Now, K.K. has issued an update, which states: "Just to clarify that my complimenting Andy Sneap as I did was no more than I would have said about any other guitar playing producers that have also contributed much more than expected to our past albums. Great talent such as Chris Tsangarides (R.I.P) and Roy Z both not only produced - but also contributed song ideas, riffs and licks, lyric ideas etc. Consequently, albums like Painkiller and Angel Of Retribution would not have been the same without them. Even George Martin, I believe, provided much more for the Beatles than just the role of a normal producer. An extra musician in the studio, like the aforementioned talented producers, really does bring a great benefit."

You can pre-order Judas Priest's new Firepower album here. The title is set for release on Friday, March 9th via Epic Records.