Glenn Tipton, former guitarist of heavy metal band Judas Priest, reunited with his old band for an encore during the kickoff concert of their North American tour. Tipton left Judas Priest last year after the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that he experienced became too extreme for him to perform or go on tour with the band. Though he was diagnosed nearly a deade earlier, Tipton continued playing with the band for as long as he could.
After the remaining members of Judas Priest played their set, Tipton came out to play two songs with the band during an encore. Together they played some of the band’s most famous songs, “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.” Before Tipton’s appearance, the band performed three songs from their 2018 album Firepower for the first time: “Spectre,” “Traitors Gate” and “Necromancer.” They also played songs that had not been performed for decades, such as “Turbo,” “Out in the Cold” and “Painkiller.”
Judas Priest has produced a total of 18 albums since the band’s conception in 1969 and is planning to release another album soon. In an interview with May the Rock Be With You, singer Rob Halford confirmed that Tipton is still contributing to the band and composing new riffs. Ian Hill, the band’s bassist, added that: “some very strong ideas that were left out of Firepower which we never got around to completing. So it’s very much on the cards. When that will happen, I don’t know.” Currently, the band is continuing their tour through March 2020, starting off in the U.S. before moving on to Canada and concluding in Europe.