Ten years ago, Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton was diagnosed to have the onset of the early stages of Parkinson’s - from then until recently Glenn has lived his life as the great heavy metal guitar player he has always been, maintaining by his own definition a standard of quality and performance that is incredibly important.

Right now, Glenn is able to play and perform some of the Priest songs that are less challenging, but due to the nature of Parkinson's progression he wants to let you all know that he won't be touring as such.

True to the metal spirit of 'the show must go on,' Glenn has requested Andy Sneap to fly the flag on stage for him.

Says Glenn - “I want everyone to know that it’s vital that the Judas Priest tour go ahead and that I am not leaving the band - it’s simply that my role has changed. I don’t rule out the chance to go on stage as and when I feel able to blast out some Priest! So at some point in the not too distant future I’m really looking forward to seeing all of our wonderful metal maniacs once again”

Tipton's bandmates Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner, Ian Hill and Scott Travis state: “We have been privileged to witness Glenn’s determination and steadfast commitment over the years, showing his passion and self belief through the writing, recording and performing sessions with Priest - he is a true metal hero!

"We are not surprised by Glenn’s insistence that we complete the Firepower tour and thank Andy for joining us to make Glenn’s wishes become real - as Glenn has said we also can’t wait to have him with us at any time any place on the road... We love you Glenn!”

Halford spoke with UK-based Kerrang a few hours after Tipton's announcement, making sure the fans understood that by no means has the band parted ways with their guitarist.

Halford: “The most important thing is that Glenn is still in Judas Priest. It’s just that his role is going to be different. He can’t tour, but it’s going to be great for fans when he comes out every now and then to do Breaking The Law or Living After Midnight. The love that we’ve had already has been amazing, and I know when he walks onstage whenever we do that, it’s going to be something special.”

Read the complete article here.

The buzz surrounding legendary metal band Judas Priest’s forthcoming album, Firepower, is undeniably growing louder - on the strength of the video clip for the track “Lightning Strike”, as well as many of the attractive/limited edition purchasing options made available for fans via PledgeMusic already being sold out. And it will soon reach a fever pitch with the unveiling of another new killer track, plus another limited edition of the forthcoming album being made available for purchase.

Fans can now hear the title track from Firepower below, and can purchase a metallic silver-colored cassette version of the album via PledgeMusic, limited to only 300 copies. And if judging from how quickly some of the previous limited edition bundles sold out via the site (such as signed guitars from Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, various colors of autographed vinyl, etc.), this rare cassette version will be an instant rarity and collector’s item. You can also pre-order the album here.

Set for release on Friday, March 9th via Epic Records - the album is comprised of fourteen tracks of pure and highly inspired metal.  And to mark the occasion Priest (singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis) has reunited with producer Tom Allom (the man behind the board for all of the band’s releases from 1979-1988, including such stellar classics as Unleashed In The East, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders Of The Faith) and with Grammy Award-winning producer Andy Sneap also helping to raise the sonic bar even higher.

“Tom Allom has got this classic metal thing,” explains Halford. “And Andy is a bit more of a ‘modern metal producer’ but his thinking is a little bit different to Tom’s. And I think to get this balance between that classic old school metal to what Andy’s world is was just a remarkable coalescence.”

“Tom Allom has been with us since 1979, so his knowledge of ourselves and our music in general is immense,” adds Hill.

And according to Travis, Priest returned back to a recording method that worked incredibly well on the band’s earlier classics - “We went back to the organic way of recording where it’s all of us in a room and we got to play together.”

Firepower tracklisting:

"Firepower"
"Lightning Strike"
"Evil Never Dies"
"Never The Heroes"
"Necromancer"
"Children Of The Sun"
"Guardians"
"Rising From Ruins"
"Flame Thrower"
"Spectre"
"Traitors Gate"
"No Surrender"
"Lone Wolf"
"Sea Of Red"

"Firepower":

"Lightning Strike" video:

Confirmed tour dates:

March
13 - Wilkes Barre, PA - Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
15 - Youngstown, OH - Covelli Centre
17 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
18 - Washington, DC - The Anthem
20 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
22 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
25 - Ottawa, ON - The Arena at TD Place
27 - London, ON - Budweiser Gardens
28 - Oshawa, ON - Tribute Communities Centre
30 - Orillia, ON - Casino Rama
31 - Detroit, MI - Detroit Masonic Temple

April
3 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
5 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center
8 - Bloomington, IL - Grossinger Motors Arena
10 - Casper, WY - Casper Events Center
11 - Loveland, CO - Budweiser Events Center
15 - Kent, WA - ShoWare Center
17 - Portland, OR - Veterans Memorial Coliseum
19 - San Francisco - The Warfield
22 - Los Angeles, CA - Microsoft Theater
24 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre
26 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
28 - Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory
29 - Sugarland, TX - Smart Financial Centre

May
1 - San Antonio, TX - Freeman Coliseum

(Rob Halford photo - Mark Weiss, band photo - Justin Borucki)