JUDAS PRIEST's IAN HILL Announces His Retirement; URIAH HEEP's DAVE RIMMER To Step In

JUDAS PRIEST's founding bassist Ian Hill has announced his retirement from the band. His replacement is URIAH HEEP's Dave Rimmer, who previously stepped in for Hill during JUDAS PRIEST's September 21 concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, United Kingdom after Ian sustained what was described at the time as "a badly damaged tendon in his left arm."

Earlier today (Friday, October 9),JUDAS PRIEST released the following message via social media: "It is with heavy hearts that we are sending out this personal message from our Ian....he has been the backbone of JUDAS PRIEST for so long and will be greatly missed by us all... We wish him well in his retirement and welcome Davey into the PRIEST family."

Hill wrote: "Hello everyone, for a long time now, when asked 'how long can you continue' - I've always answered 'until my performances suffer'.... I hate to say it, but that time has come.

"For some years now, I've been struggling with the onset of the evil arthritis, which is now in an advanced state in my left shoulder and right hand, established in my right shoulder, and present in both knees. I've been fighting this with painkilling pills, gels, and recently with cortisone injections in my shoulder and hand.

"Although I was able to put bass lines to the songs for the new album, there were questions whether I'd be able to complete the recent European tour without incident, so we asked our good friend Davey Rimmer from URIAH HEEP, and of course ELEGANT WEAPONS, to learn the set list to stand in for me if I had to pull out, which I did for the London show. This was due to me snapping a tendon in my left shoulder (as if I didn't have enough problems with it!) just before the encores during the Brussels show two days before. This led to me not being able to lift my arm enough to reach the neck of my bass. So we had to call Davey to stand in for me, who put in an incredible performance at such short notice!

"I've seen specialists, who suggest I might get away without surgery, but even if I don't there's no guarantee either way that I'll have enough strength in my shoulder/arm to complete a whole stage show.

"In view of all this, and the fact that I've neglected my family life for fifty seven years, I've decided to retire and spend the remaining years making up for it, and doing things with them before it involves one of ‘em pushing me around in a wheelchair.

"The obvious choice for my replacement is Davey. He's a great bassist, and a genuinely nice bloke who'll fit the job perfectly, and I wish him the very best of luck!

"There's not a day goes by where I don't give thanks for the incredible journey I've lived through, and it just remains for me to say that I love you all, and thank you for the life you've let me live."

Rimmer is JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner's bandmate in ELEGANT WEAPONS, which also features Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, MSG) on vocals and Christopher Williams (ACCEPT) on drums.

Hill was the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Singer Rob Halford joined the group in 1973 and guitarist Glenn Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Original guitarist K.K. Downing parted ways with the band in 2011, and was replaced by Faulkner.

In March 2024, Hill was asked by Spain's Rock FM if he and his bandmates have thought about a possible retirement yet. The now 74-year-old bassist responded: "No, we have no plan to retire yet. We're still able to perform. The time to think about retiring is when your performances start to dip and you're not doing too well. You have to think about it then. We're not stupid; we know that we're not getting any younger and that there will be a time when we have to retire, but there's no plans to do so just yet."

Back in 2019, Hill told Canada's "Thorn Of Rock" radio show that there were no plans for the band to retire anytime soon. "We've done it for 50 years, and it would just seem strange if we stopped," he said. "Having said that, we thoroughly enjoy what we're doing, which is a main motivation these days. And there's no reason to stop. As long as can put on quality performances and put out quality music, we'll keep on doing so. And as long as the fine people who are the PRIEST fans are happy with that, there's no reason for us to stop."

PRIEST has been touring in support of its 19th studio album, "Invincible Shield", which debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

"Invincible Shield" entered the U.K. chart at No. 2, just behind Ariana Grande's "Eternal Sunshine".

Prior to "Invincible Shield"'s arrival, PRIEST's highest U.K. chart achievement was with 1980's "British Steel", which reached No. 4.PRIEST's 2018 album "Firepower" entered the chart at No. 5.

"Invincible Shield" was JUDAS PRIEST's fifth Top 10 album, after the aforementioned "British Steel" and "Firepower", as well as 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" (No. 6) and the 1979 live album "Unleashed In The East" (No. 10).

"Invincible Shield" landed at No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as No. 5 in France, No. 8 in Italy and No. 16 in Australia.