English heavy metal band Judas Priest has announced the postponement of their upcoming North American tour dates. According to Consequence, their drummer Richie Faulkner has been hospitalized due to “major heart condition issues.” The band had just performed at the Louder Than Life music festival the night before the announcement on September 26.

The statement was released via Judas Priest’s frontman Rob Halford’s Instagram: “It is with deep regret that we have to postpone the rest of our US tour. Richie has major heart condition issues which have landed him in the hospital where he is being treated. In the meantime, we are all sending love to our Falcon for a speedy recovery. As soon as we have any updates from his doctors on when we can reschedule the dates we will of course announce them.”

 

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Judas Priest’s North American tour consisted of more than 20 dates, with the last performance being on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario. The tour was meant to celebrate the release of their 50 Heavy Metal Years Of Music box set exclusive which is currently available for pre-order.

Faulkner originally replaced the band’s founding guitarist, K.K. Downing, back in 2011. Since then, he has brought his energy and passion to Judas Priest’s discography, helping the band gain critical acclaim with their seventeenth studio album Redeemer Of Souls which was released in July of 2014 as well as their 2018 follow up album Firepower.