GEORGE LYNCH On RICHIE FAULKNER: 'He's Not Even Aware How Good He Is'

Former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch, who became a grandfather for the fifth time when his daughter, Mariah Lynch, and her boyfriend, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner, welcomed their first child, a baby girl, in July 2020, spoke to Let's Rock about Richie's skills as a guitar player. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "He's a natural. It's not fabricated. That guy is just good beyond his — he's not even aware how good he is; he's just so good. [Laughs] He reminds me of my guitar teacher when I was a kid coming up. I had this guy. And he was so mature in his playing. And this was — whenever it was — late '60s, early '70s, I guess. And his hands were just so mature. His vibrato, his phrasing — everything; he had it all. And I's just feel, like, 'Oh.' I wanted to be like [him]. I'd look forward to my lessons every week and I always wanted to impress him, and I could never get there. And he just had it in his hands. But Richie reminds me so much of [him]. Even the way he looks and then just his demeanor and then his phrasing — everything about him is just so… He's just got this mature style that's just so deep, where I'm just wrestling around trying to come up with something, and he's just, like, 'It's all right there.' It's just, 'Goddamn it.'"

George also praised Richie on a personal level, saying: They just made the most beautiful, cutest, lovable, funnest little baby on the planet. What a gift to the world. He's a very sweet, bright, talented man and I feel very fortunate that he is taking care of my daughter the way he has. And I really appreciate him so much."

Nearly four years ago, Lynch jokingly expressed his desire to play in PRIEST alongside Faulkner. Speaking at a Pitbull Audio guitar clinic in San Diego in January 2020, Lynch said: "I still to this day love PRIEST. I wish they would call me up and hire me. Glenn Tipton, hello?"

Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for original guitarist K.K. Downing.

Richie was once the guitarist in the backing group for Lauren Harris, daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris.

In September 2020, Richie spoke to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about what it's like having George as a member of his family.

"The first time George and his wife came over, the night they got here, me and George just played guitar all night," Richie said. "So the women chatted and me and George just played guitar.

"George is a lovely guy; he's like a quiet, humble guy. He's a killer guitar player, as we all know. And he texts Mariah every day: "When can I see my granddaughter?'

"But, yeah, we sat there [and] we played guitar. We talked about guitars. And he's a big PRIEST fan as well; he loves PRIEST. So, yeah, we were talking all night until I put on some Eric Johnson, and then that kind of shut us both up — we didn't wanna play guitar anymore. But he's a lovely guy, man."

Richie also jokingly suggested that his daughter will take after him and her grandfather and start shredding the axe.

"It's the next in line of that heritage — George Lynch, LYNCH MOB, DOKKEN, there's JUDAS PRIEST in there, and now we've got a little princess," he said. "So she's the next in line in the gunslingers. EMG pickups, they sent me this beautiful pink flying V for her first guitar. It's absolutely beautiful — bright pink with a little pickup in it. And it actually plays well. So that's her first guitar. So she's well on her way now."