Band will not feature touring guitarist Andy Sneap
Judas Priest is touring for the first time ever as a quartet. The group shared the news on Monday (Jan 10th), stating their upcoming The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour 2022 will not feature touring guitarist Andy Sneap.
“Hello maniacs! We are chomping at the British Steel bit to return to world touring… celebrating 50 years of JUDAS PRIEST as an an even more powerful, relentless four piece heavy metal band – with Glenn [Timpton] coming out on stage with us here and there as before. Big thanks to Andy for all you’ve done and continuing to be in the production team for our new album… See you all soon headbangers!” the band shares in a statement.
Sneap, who began touring in place of Tipton four years ago after Tipton stepped aside due to Parkinson’s disease, says he wasn’t involved in the band’s decision to tour without him.
“Rob called me last Monday and said they wanted to move on as a four-piece, which I find incredibly disappointing after this amount of time but I respect his decision as they obviously have a vision how they want this to play out,” Snead tells Blabbermouth.
“This always was a temporary situation, and like I’ve said before, I’ll always help the band any way I can, and that applies going forward also.
“I’ve been a huge fan of the band since the early ’80s and it was mind-blowing to play onstage with the guys and quite frankly terrifying in the beginning at such short notice.
“We are moving forward with the new album next month and look forward to making a killer follow-up to Firepower.”
Priest has always been a dual guitar band, so this marks the first time they will be touring without a second guitarist.
The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour 2022 kicks off March 4th in Peoria, IL with dates through April 13th in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Queensryche will support the 25 date trek.
There’s no word if Sneap will rejoin Priest next year when they embark on No More Tours 2 with Ozzy Osbourne.
