Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has fired back at recent comments made by the band’s former guitarist KK Downing.
Downing issued a statement earlier this week saying he was “shocked and stunned” not to have been asked back into the fold after Glenn Tipton’s Parkinson’s battle came to light.
Halford calls much of Downing’s Facebook post “completely superfluous” and is particularly angry at his insinuations that co-producer Andy Sneap played Tipton’s parts on upcoming album Firepower.
Halford tells Fox Sports 910 Radio: “With regards to everything that was made in that statement, a lot of it, to me, is completely superfluous. But the one point I would like to clarify and have on record is this insinuation that Andy Sneap was covering Glenn’s guitar parts on Firepower.
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He continues: “I can categorically state that that is a thousand percent false. Because I was with Glenn for all of his guitar work – and he worked really, really hard.
“Imagine this guy in the 10th year of Parkinson’s. I’ve never seen anybody so brave in the fact that every song was a challenge for him to make it work, but he did – consistently, day after day.
“It was just a very powerful thing to experience first-hand. And this just goes to show you about the amazing stories that surround individuals around the world that are dealing with Parkinson’s in their life.”
Halford adds: “I just wanted to touch on that one issue, because out of everything that was laid out in that statement, that one hit me personally. Now I’ve been able to clarify that and make sure that everybody understands that everything that you hear from Glenn on Firepower is the amazing Glenn Tipton.”
Judas Priest will head out on tour across North America from mid-March in support of Firepower, which will launch on March 9 via Columbia Records.
Judas Priest Firepower tracklist
- 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
Judas Priest 2018 Firepower tour dates
Mar 13: Wilkes Barre Mohegan Sun Arena At Casey Plaza, PA
Mar 15: Youngstown Covelli Centre, OH
Mar 17: Uniondale Nassau Coliseum, NY
Mar 18: Washington The Anthem, DC
Mar 20: Newark Prudential Center, NJ
Mar 22: Uncasville Mogehan Sun Arena, CT
Mar 25: Ottawa The Arena At TD Place, ON
Mar 27: London Budweiser Gardens, ON
Mar 28: Oshawa Tribute Communities Centre, ON
Mar 30: Rama Casino Rama, ON
Mar 31: Detroit Masonic Temple, MI
Apr 03: Milwaukee Riverside Theater, WI
Apr 05: Green Bay Resch Center, WI
Apr 08: Bloomington Grossinger Motors Arena, IL
Apr 10: Casper Events Center, WY
Apr 11: Loveland Budweiser Events Center, CO
Apr 15: Kent ShoWare Center, WA
Apr 17: Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum, OR
Apr 19: San Francisco The Warfield, CA
Apr 22: Los Angeles Microsoft Theatre, CA
Apr 24: Phoenix Comercia Theatre, AZ
Apr 26: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Apr 28: Dallas Bomb Factory, TX
Apr 29: Sugarland Smart Financial Centre, TX
May 01: San Antonio Freeman Coliseum, TX
Jul 19: Athens Rockwave Festival, Greece
Jul 21: Plovdiv Hills Of Rock Festival, Poland
Jul 31: Munich Zenith, Germany
Aug 08: Dortmund Westfallenhalle, Germany
Aug 10: Bloodstock Festival, UK
