Earlier today, we learned that when Judas Priest begin to tour again this year, it will be as a quartet. This missing member will be producer/guitarist Andy Sneap, who has been Glenn Tipton’s fill-in ever since Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2018.
According to Priest’s statement on the matter, Sneap — a producer on their last album, Firepower — was “continuing to be in the production team for our new album.” For whatever reason, it seems like a lot of people interpreted this to mean that it had been Sneap’s decision to step away from touring.
Apparently, however, that’s not the case.
In a statement released to Blabbermouth, Sneap reveals:
“Rob [Halford] 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.
“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,” he continued.
“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.’”
It’s a bummer that Sneap is bummed. But honestly, I’m still more concerned with Priest not having a second guitarist. I don’t see how that’s gonna work in a live situation, and the fact that, to hear Sneap tell it, they actively decided to proceed in this manner is just baffling to me.
Head to the comments section to discuss amongst yourselves.