According to blabbermouth.net, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has revealed that he underwent a second heart surgery in early August. The latest operation took place nearly a year after the 42-year-old British-born musician suffered an acute cardiac aortic dissection during a performance at the Louder Than Life festival, just a short distance from Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health – Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It took the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery team, led by Dr. Siddharth Pahwa and also including Drs. Brian Ganzel and Mark Slaughter, approximately 10 hours to complete Faulkner’s first surgery, an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement.
On September 26th — the first anniversary of his life-saving operation, he took to his Facebook to share a video of the audience preparing for the band’s performance at the 2021 Louder Than Life festival, and he included the following message: “#september 26th 2021. #louisville #kentucky. @louderthanlifefest.I’m fortunate and grateful to be here a year later typing this. My support system at home, the hospitals and of course from all you metal maniacs has been second to none and I thank you all.
“One year ago today. Less than an hour before my life changed forever. It’s crazy how one minute you’re listening to the crowd singing [Black Sabbath‘s] War Pigs– everything normal, everything seemingly fine- the next it turns out that it was almost the last time I ever heard it. Unbeknownst to me there was stuff going on under the surface that was about to literally explode.
I’m fortunate and grateful to be here a year later typing this. My support system at home, the hospitals and of course from all you metal maniacs has been second to none and I thank you all.
I’m not completely out of the woods yet. 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 three 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.
Stay safe and see you all soon.
Much love, Falcon x RHRF DOTF.”
9 Responses
Wait. One of his heart surgeons was named Mark Slaughter?!?!?
Wow…
Glad he’s on the road to recovery.
That’s what grabbed my attention in the article.
The first surgery must’ve kept him “Up All Night”
Glad Richie didn’t “Fly To The Angels”
He is very lucky to be alive .. I hope he recovers and stays healthy, life is short ..rob, ian, especially Glen, please remove your heads from your collective asses and call KK before it’s too late~
Hopefully this won’t upset our dear Dana too much….
If my memory serves me correctly, Judas Priest sold off their publishing rights a little while ago; meaning that their music could be sold and used anywhere.
Well guess what – on Thursday 29 September 2022 here in England, I saw a TV commercial for KFC.
The music playing over the top of it?
Judas Priest – Breaking the Law.
The devaluing of the music has begin.
My god….. this kind of thing is what’s killing rock music
I get that artists selling off music publishing allows the music to be used in commercial situations that may seem very distasteful – like “Breaking the Law” being used in a KFC commercial or Dio (“Eat Your Heart Out”) in a Carl’s Jr. burger commercial. And of course, if you’re a fan of the music, it obviously seems sacrilege, or at the very least, in bad taste.
But on the flip-side, isn’t it exposing the music to a wider audience that might never been aware of the band? Probably the greatest example was when Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” became a hit all over again when it appeared in the closing scene of The Sopranos (granted, Journey didn’t sell of its publishing) and this past summer with “Separate Ways” on Stranger Things.
My point is that it may be distasteful to use songs you hold so dearly in crass commercials for toothpaste or toilet paper, it’s also in many cases keeping rock and metal from entirely going the way of jazz where it’s liked only by a niche group of people. It’s exposing and influencing a whole new generation of fans to the bands.
I’m sure I’m going to be trashed by the diehard fans and purists, but the numbers don’t like – a lot of these artists get a second life both financially and recognition-wise.
They already appeared on American Idol, that is exposure. Commercials? In my opinion, yucko on a Gene Simmons level.
Hi D.J.H,
Oh no….I knew this would happen…Ugh.
Hope all is well.
I know Robert – they’ll be using Painkiller next for headache tablets…. :()