JUDAS PRIEST's GLENN TIPTON: 'We Are Closer Than Ever'

August 10, 2004

JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton recently spoke to 411mania.com about the band's career from beginning to present — and what the fans can expect from the reunited "Gods of Metal." A few excerpts from the interview follow:

411mania.com: Since Rob's return, has there been any problems or protests regarding his sexual orientation?

Glenn Tipton: "We're all very good friends and we always will be. We've had our moments and some of it wasn't very nice when parted company and overall we've all been through a lot with each other. We've had management problems and record problems and much more but now we're closer than ever. And we've had nothing negative as a result of how Rob feels. It's 2004 — the music's the only thing that matters, and I think people realize that and don't worry so much about irrelevant outside factors and just enjoy the music and the band being back together."

411mania.com: Have you spoken with Tim "Ripper" Owens since all of this happened? Do you still maintain contact or listen to any of his new stuff in ICED EARTH?

Glenn Tipton: "Oh, certainly. Tim's wife just had a baby and we've spoken to them several times and congratulated them and checking up and making sure they‘re doing okay.

"When the time came for us to reunite, Tim stepped aside and took like a man. He was a terrific gentleman about everything and he's still a great singer. No one else could have done what he did. He has his own great platform now in ICED EARTH and I hope he does excellent with it. I wish him nothing but the best."

411mania.com: Is the new album still being written and recorded? And what other plans do you have for the future?

Glenn Tipton: "Everything has been written and recorded for the new album. We have some overdubs and some other mixing to do but other than that it's all done. We started writing it last September after we got back together and now everything's almost finished.

"The album comes out in December and a smaller version of the live DVD from Barcelona will be released in conjunction. We're still putting together plans for the full DVD release. We haven't really decided on everything with that yet but we'll have done in due time and probably have it out early next year."

Read Glenn Tipton's entire interview with 411mania.com at this location.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).