Back in 2018, Glenn Tipton announced he’d be stepping down from his formal touring duties with Judas Priest owing to his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Tipton has remained a key part of the Priest lineup, albeit with a slightly altered role, and has continued sharing electric guitar duties with Richie Faulkner, whom Tipton has lined up alongside since K.K. Downing’s departure in 2011.
Speaking in the new issue of Total Guitar, Tipton discussed just how crucial Faulkner has been in allowing him to transition into a more accommodating role that still sees him record and perform.
“I played what I could and am very proud of the whole album,” Tipton explains of the band's newest record, Invincible Shield. “Richie helped a lot. I think his strongest attribute is his ability to adapt to different styles whilst maintaining his own very strong character. Priest require a guitarist who can shift from out-and-out metal to more melodic tracks.”
As well as piling praise on his fellow guitarist – who previously suffered an onstage aortic aneurysm during a set in 2021 – Tipton also touched on how he’s been juggling his Priest duties with his own medical battles thanks to a “no surrender” mindset.
“Obviously the drawback for me now is Parkinson’s, and I’ve had to pass a lot of work onto his shoulders,” Tipton goes on. “I keep pushing myself because I believe in ‘no surrender’. This disease won’t beat me and I will continue writing and playing for as long as I can.”
As mentioned, Tipton is still a key figure in the Judas Priest lineup. Andy Sneap was recruited to help share the workload, but Tipton still writes, records and, when circumstances allow it, performs live.
For example, in the past Tipton has reunited onstage with his Priest bandmates at Barcelona’s Rock Fest in 2022, and for Judas Priest’s shows in Oakland and Las Vegas.
In the same issue of Total Guitar, Richie Faulkner dove deeper into the process behind sharing six-string responsibilities with Tipton, giving greater insight into just how well the two guitarists work together.
“With Glenn’s situation, he wasn’t playing as much lead as before,” he said. “But that’s okay, we didn’t want that to impede the process. If Glenn was having a good day, he’d play the part. If he couldn’t, I’d do it.
“We didn’t want him to worry. He brought songs to the table like Sons of Thunder which is a classic three-minute track in the style of [Priest anthem] Hell Bent For Leather. Glenn is the master of that stuff.
“He was as involved as he could be and it was important for us to involve him.”
Tipton previously discussed his ever-evolving role in an interview with Guitar World, during which he asserted his riff writing remained in fine working order.
“I went into it with the understanding that I had to adapt,” he reflected of his changing Judas Priest role. “I have to realize my limitations. Basically, you just have to deal with what life throws at you and make the best of it.
“I don’t try to set the mark too high now because, obviously, my condition means I can’t play guitar like I used to. But I can still build songs and I can still get a mean riff out.”
Head over to Magazines Direct to pick up the newest issue of Total Guitar, which celebrates 70 years of the Fender Stratocaster.
