Watch: JUDAS PRIEST Performs Without Bassist IAN HILL At Final Concert Of 2026 'Faithkeepers' European Tour

JUDAS PRIEST's founding bassist Ian Hill was forced to sit out the band's concert Monday night (September 21) at the Eventim Apollo in London, United Kingdom after sustaining "a badly damaged tendon in his left arm." His temporary replacement for the gig was URIAH HEEP's Dave Rimmer.

Fan-filmed video of last night's show can be seen below.

Ian's absence from the London concert was announced earlier on Monday via a statement posted on JUDAS PRIEST's social media.

"Ian has a badly damaged tendon in his left arm so unfortunately he won't be able to play at our Hammersmith Apollo Eventim show on Monday 21st September," the statement read. "Our good friend Davey Rimmer (URIAH HEEP) will be playing with us so the show will go on. Ian sends his grateful appreciation to our fans for your caring and understanding."

JUDAS PRIEST's London concert was the final show of the band's 2026 "Faithkeepers" European tour.

PRIEST's next scheduled live performance will take place in June 2027 at the Tons Of Rock festival in Oslo, Norway.

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 is 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.

Hill has played on all of JUDAS PRIEST's studio albums so far and has performed at almost 3,000 concerts with the legendary British heavy metal band.

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."

JUDAS PRIEST kicked off its 2026 "Faithkeepers" world tour on July 25 at Germany's BOBfest.

The band's 17-song set at Monchengladbach's SparkassenPark included two 1970s classics, "The Ripper" and "Delivering The Goods", which hadn't been performed live since 2019.

The "Faithkeepers" European tour launched less than a year after PRIEST teamed up with Alice Cooper for a 22-city North American co-headlining tour last fall.

PRIEST is continuing to tour 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.