JUDAS PRIEST's IAN HILL Announces His Retirement
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."
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."
"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!
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