Ahead of Judas Priest's May 11 concert at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, bassist Ian Hill spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. An excerpt from the feature follows...
Judas Priest formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England, just a year after Black Sabbath from the same town. They helped carve out a sound that spawned bands ranging from Iron Maiden and Motörhead to Metallica and Pantera.
Hill, who now lives just 20 miles from his hometown, is the one member of Judas Priest to never leave the band.
“I never saw any reason to,” he said, with a chuckle. “I’m perfectly happy with what I do. I helped start the band. It’s something I love dearly. When I’m not doing Judas Priest, I’m a family guy. I have four kids and wife. I don’t do more music at the end of a tour. Maybe when the band is really over, I’ll put a blues band together and play at local bars with my buds, nothing serious.”
At age 72, he said he’s fortunate that he is healthy enough to play as well as he did in his younger days. Unfortunately, his longtime colleague and guitarist Glenn Tipton was diagnosed more than a decade ago with Parkinson’s disease and is now limited to playing three encore songs at concerts.
“That’s about all he can handle,” Hill said. “It’s tough for him. I can’t put myself in his shoes.”
Read more at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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