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British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST will embark on a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland in March 2024. Support on the trek will come from fellow metal veterans SAXON and URIAH HEEP

“JUDAS PRIEST are excited to announce our first 2024 shows in the U.K. and Ireland,” the band said in a statement. “We are thrilled to start this world tour in the renowned traditional homes of heavy metal and can’t wait to see our amazing family of PRIEST maniacs!”

JUDAS PRIEST 2024 tour dates with SAXON and URIAH HEEP:

March 11 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
March 13 – Leeds, UK @ First Direct Arena
March 15 – Dublin, UK @ 2 Arena
March 17 – Bournemouth, UK @ International Arena
March 19 – Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena
March 21 – London, UK @ OVO Arena Wembley

Famed producer and musician Andy Sneap will continue to fill the role of longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

During a recent interview with SiriusXM‘s Ozzy’s BoneyardHalford was asked if Sneap would continue with the band in a live sense on top of his production roles, to which he responded: “I think that’s the idea, yeah. Glenn comes out when he’s able. Glenn’s still be with us. Glenn’s still a very important, integral part of JUDAS PRIEST and all the decisions and moves that we make.

“This fucking Parkinson’s is horrible, the way it intrudes into your life and it takes away some of the things that made you as a person,” Rob continued. “Thank God we’ve got all these incredible things that Glenn has done. Listen to his lead break on ‘Painkiller‘, listen to that beautiful solo in ‘Beyond The Realms Of Death‘ and more. Glenn’s mark is indelible in JUDAS PRIEST music as a lead guitar player and a rhythm guitar player.

“So, yeah, we’ve agreed that because the fans are so loving and supportive of taking Glenn’s idea, which is, ‘I wanna put Andy on that spot, on the stage where I’ve stood for decades, and Andy will be doing the work that needs to be done for me,’ that’s just really powerful, man. That’s so much love. And that really is Glenn’s love for this band in wanting this band to continue.

“So, yeah, we’ve agreed that Andy will still be with us as we go out again, and that’s great, man,” Halford added. “That makes the great work he’s done with us since he stepped in at the beginning of where we are in PRIEST now, and it worked — it worked. The fans love him. He does great work on stage. He’s committed. He loves this band… He’s doing very important work.”

Early last year, JUDAS PRIEST released a statement saying they had planned to resume their “50 Heavy Metal Years” tour as “an even more powerful, relentless four-piece heavy metal band.” Sneap went on to release a statement saying he was disappointed with the decision, with JUDAS PRIEST fans expressing their sadness over the loss of the band’s classic twin-guitar sound.

JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill was asked by The Aquarian Weekly why the group reversed their decision to remove Sneap from their touring lineup, to which he replied: “When it became apparent that Glenn Tipton wasn’t going to be able to do the ‘Firepower‘ tour [in 2018], the first thing that Rob said was, ‘Well, we’ll carry on as a four-piece. We started out as a four-piece, so we can do it again,’” Hill recalled. “I’m a pragmatist, I see positives in most things, so at first I thought, ‘Yeah, it’ll work.’ Then, when you start to think, you’re, like, ‘No. Really, all of our success is gained from the two guitars.’

“We decided to get Andy Sneap involved for that tour [in 2018],” Ian continued. “Andy was the perfect choice. He had just produced ‘Firepower‘, so he knew all the new songs we’d be playing. He was a fan of the band, as well, so he knew all the old stuff. He was the perfect choice. Then suddenly, Rob gets the idea to do the four-piece thing again. He rang Andy up and told him. Andy was fine about it. But then we thought, ‘There’s been some [fan] comments and if we do it at all, this probably isn’t the time.’ So, we had a quick U-turn and asked Andy if he’d do it again. Thank goodness he said yes.”

In mid-January of 2022, JUDAS PRIEST released a statement announcing that they were reversing their decision to tour without Sneap in the second guitar role, stating they had “decided unanimously” to continue with their dual six-string attack.

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