Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton discuss why they are still touring despite claiming in the past that they were going to stop.
According to blabbermouth.net, Tipton explained on last week’s Rockline: “We, uh, lied. [laughs] The statement we made was we’re gonna do no more world tours. As we said before, it takes a massive chunk out of your life. It’s pretty arduous out there — almost two years, the last one, playing two and a half hours every night, four or five shows a week. But we enjoyed every second of it. And we said that at the end of it, we weren’t gonna do any more world tours, but we didn’t’ rule out any dates. And we just got so enthused with the new album and everything that we put some dates in and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
When asked by Rockline host Bob Coburn if it’s fair to say retirement didn’t work out for the band at all, Tipton replied, “We lied. We lied. We didn’t mean to.” Halford added, “Actually, it’s Richie Faulkner’s fault; let’s blame Richie. We can’t overemphasize the importance of having Richie with us at this point in our career.”
He continued, “When Richie joined us for the Epitaph tour, extraordinary things were happening night after night after night. And that, accompanied with some of the things that Richie was doing backstage before the show, laying down licks with his little portable recording gear, it was just this energy that was just out of control. So, naturally, when you come off a tour like that and you digest everything, you’re just raring to go and we couldn’t wait to get into the writing mode and start making music for Redeemer Of Souls together.”
As previously reported, Redeemer Of Souls is number six on The Billboard 200 chart. The band has also added some additional tour dates to their North American tour, click here to see the itinerary.
32 Responses
While some bands stay around too long, some leave the party too soon,. I think JP just realized that they left the party too soon, and it’s a good thing for all of us that they decided to come back! They still have plenty of gas left in the tank, R.O.S. proves that. When you got it, you got it, and JP still has it! Creativity, desire, energy, R.O.S. gave JP a second wind, let’s all enjoy the ride! 🙂
I ordered my copy on Amazon. I cant wait! I had to use some gift cards, otherwise I would have it already! Number 6 on Billboard! Good for them!
Dio never really said farewell he kept rockin till that stupid cancer kicked in.
I don’t know why this is news. If people actually paid attention to what the band said during/before the Epitath tour, they NEVER said they were retiring. Never once. They always said the world tours were over with, but short stints would happen. And they also said we’d still have new albums.
Frankly, I’m relieved, not angry. I thought the last show they did at the Izod Center 2 1/2 years ago was the last time I’d ever see them. At least now, I get at least 3 more chances in October. I also don’t blame KK for anything. He was honest with where he was in life. As a person, I’m sad he’s no longer with the band. But, despite my criticisms of Richie being a little too overly enthusiastic on stage and fairly annoying (a la Jannick Gers), we have solid proof with this incredible album that he revitalized a band that was, frankly, ready to wind things down. Glenn’s comment about Richie recording ideas backstage shocked me. Why WOULDN’T he be doing that? Why wouldn’t GLENN be doing that?? So, it goes to show you they were sort of on cruise control, even while performing incredible shows.
LOL jannick gers. i never thought about it that way. i agree richie may be alittle too enthusiastic on stage but he’s not even in the same stratosphere in annoyance as jannick. plus, richie is a waaayyyy better guitar player than jannick. atleast richie doesnt do that stupid flipping of the guitar over his shoulder or run around like an idiot like gers does. he’s annoyed me since day 1 when he joined the band. why maiden never kicked his ass to the curb when adrian rejoined the band is beyond me.
anyways, ROS is awesome. classic priest all the way. halls of vahala, dragonaut, crossfire, and snake bite are my favorites.
Yeah, this is what I thought too – it was only extended WORLD tours they were stopping, and they said even before or during the Epitaph tour there would still be new music. I guess the only thing I am surprised at is I thought they would maybe only play festivals and such, not even smaller tours like this one is (at the moment). But hey, I missed the Epitaph tour so now I have another chance. Haven’t seen them live since the Painkiller tour. I wish KK was still with them, but I don’t blame him at all for wanting to step down – he had a long great run with Priest and just like the rest of us who work hard for all our lives deserves to (hopefully) retire whenever and however he wants to. Looking beyond opinions of the actual songs on the new album, Ritchie Faulkner is a ripping guitar player. I haven’t seen much video of him so I can’t really comment on any “antics”, but he seriously tears it up on his lead breaks. It would be hard for anyone to be as annoying to watch live as Janick Gers. I genuinely can’t stand him.
As a massive Maiden fan, what pisses me off the most is that Gers is on Stage Left where Adrian use to be. Adrian is my favorite player of all time, and the fact that he stands next to Murray now tells me he’s being a class act about it while Gers goofs around on stage. Drives me nuts. I’ve heard of few interviews with Janick, and he actually seems like a good guy. But Maiden don’t need him anymore. I wish they would stick with Dave and Adrian and have Adrian on his rightful place on stage. Giving Janick old leads to play instead of Dave or Adrian is very puzzling to say the least. Seen Faulkner live with Lauren Hill’s band – he shreds plain and simple.
Yeah, I’ve always really liked Adrian Smith. He and Dave Murray have distinctly different styles but complement each other perfectly. Janick does seem like a good guy, and he’s not a bad player, but the whole “prancing leprechaun dance” and throwing his guitar around routine just isn’t right for Iron Maiden. It would make perfect sense in Poison. I had no problem with him playing Adrian’s leads while Adrian was gone – of course he would play them – but he’s playing Adrian’s leads along WITH Adrian now, or sometimes even INSTEAD of Adrian, ugh. The rest of the guys in Maiden are being good mates to keep him, and he may be a great guy to hang out with, but I’ve never really cared for him to be in the band.
There is a lie and then there is a damn lie. I hope the metal god and JP stick around for as long as possible.