JUDAS PRIEST Guitarist: 'You Don't Always Need An Accolade To Leave A Legacy'

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with guitarist Glenn Tipton of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock Revisited: You played with K.K. [former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Kennth "K.K." Downing] for forty years and I am sure you two had mental telepathy between the two of you. How hard has it been to get on the same page with [new JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] Richie [Faulkner], concerning the solo switching and the harmony lead playing that you do?

Glenn: That is the amazing thing; Richie has just blown us all away. Last November, Ken told us that he wanted to retire because he had problems with his wrist. We thought that was it, really. We didn't do anything for three months. We knew that there were a lot of kids that wanted to see PRIEST play, one last time. We decided to do it, if we could find the right guy. We found Richie and he just blew us away. He blended straight into the band. He has the essence of what's necessary for PRIEST and he does his own thing as well; he really is extraordinary. I have said it before, but I think if we had not found him, then we wouldn't be on the road now.

Classic Rock Revisited: I love "Nostradamus". Rob [Halford, vocals] told me that one day PRIEST may play the entire album in concert. Will that ever happen?

Glenn: We've discussed quite a few times doing that. When we went out and played "British Steel" from start to finish, everybody loved it. We have discussed the possibility of doing "Nostradamus", or even "Angel Of Retribution", from start to finish. We have discussed doing "Screaming For Vengeance" in its entirety as well. It opens a ton of worms, as that would mean that I would have to tour for thirty more years!

Classic Rock Revisited: Has any new PRIEST music been written?

Glenn: Rob and I did some writing in January and February. We have actually done eight to ten songs. We'd like to sit down with Richie, as he has already presented a few ideas that are very PRIEST-like. That is a whole new option that we want to pursue. The thing that we need more than anything else is time. We have a very heavy touring schedule and then we will need to rest a bit before we get back in the studio.

Classic Rock Revisited: I am a huge JUDAS PRIEST fan. You are already in the PRIEST fan's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, in our hearts, but I am curious if you think JUDAS PRIEST should be enshrined in the actual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

Glenn: I don't know if we will ever be invited to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, or not. If we do, it will certainly be a privilege and it will be something we will be proud of. If we don't, then it is not going to change our lives. Our legacy is in our music. We will leave our music for everybody and I think that's good enough. You don't always need an accolade to leave a legacy.

Read the entire interview from Classic Rock Revisited.