Judas Priest guitarist  Richie Faulkner announced he had  a second open heart surgery. The news of Faulkner having another surgery follows an incident on September 26th, 2021 when the guitarist’s aorta ruptured onstage during a performance at the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville. At that time Judas Priest was closing the show with their song “Painkiller” when Faulkner’s aorta ruptured. Faulkner was immediately rushed to the hospital where he had a life-saving 10 hour open heart surgery.

Three says ago marked the anniversary of the scary moment and now Faulkner went on Instagram to tell his fans that he recently had another open heart surgery.

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“Just before we toured Europe, scans showed a hole in one of the connections between the synthetic graft and my own aorta that was causing a leak. The blood from the leak was forming an 8cm sack that was surrounding my heart. The doctors were okay for me to tour Europe, but as soon as I got back I had to go under again for another open-heart surgery. So 3 days after we played Belgium, they went in, removed the sack and fixed the leak. So I’m now six weeks post the 2nd open heart surgery, feeling well and strong and looking forward to seeing you all again on the next leg of the US #50heavymetalyears tour starting in a few weeks. My surgeons were always confident that it was enough time for me to recover and get back out on the road and it seems like they were right. We had to lose @aftershockfestival in order for me to recover, but it looks like it’s still gonna be a Kick-Ass festival. Look after yourselves and your loved ones, you never know what’s round the corner.” said Faulkner