Judas Priest Guitarist: 'We've Always Been Proud to Be Heavy Metal'

Judas Priest Guitarist: ‘We’ve Always Been Proud to Be Heavy Metal’

2018-03-29

Story by Charles Ken, photo by Anne Erickson

Judas Priest’s Glenn Tipton says the band has always embraced the term ‘heavy metal’

Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest has been taking some time off the road due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease, but he has popped up at select gigs on the band’s current tour and has been doing some press. During a new interview with Build Series, Tipton discussed how proud the guys of Judas Priest have always been to carry the torch for heavy metal music.

“There was a period in time where a lot of bands dropped the tag ‘heavy metal’ because they thought it was unfashionable,” Tipton said in the interview. “We’ve always been proud to be a heavy metal band. If you consider tracks like ‘Eat Me Alive’ and ‘Last Rose of Summer’, the difference couldn’t be more extreme, but it’s still to us heavy metal, it’s still Judas Priest-style heavy metal.”

Tipton added that heavy metal, “can be what you want it to be. There’s no rules. That’s how we always looked at it. If there are rules, they can be broken. We’re proud that we’re a heavy metal band, and we’ve flown the flag for years as a heavy metal band and always will.”

Tipton also spoke about how the support he has been receiving since announcing his Parkinson’s diagnosis. “It’s just amazing to get, first of all, support from the band,” Tipton said. “The texts and emails from all over world, and to hear the audience was very emotional. You don’t like to see a grown man cry, but we did.”

In other news, Judas Priest’s new album, “Firepower,” snagged the group’s highest-ever position on the albums chart upon its release. The collection, the band’s 18th studio release, earned Judas Priest an impressive No. 5 debut on the Billboard 200 chart earlier this month.

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.