LONDON (CelebrityAccess) Legendary guitarist Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest fame has announced he’ll be sitting out the band’s upcoming tour because of a diagnosis he has Parkinson’s disease.
The band said the disease started to affect the guitarist about a decade ago; he will be replaced by Andy Sneap, veteran of the band Hell and a heavy metal music producer. Tipton was one of the two founding guitarists of the band, the other being K.K. Downing who was replaced by guitarist Richie Faulkner in 2011.
Tipton says he’s still part of the band.
The tour, which includes original vocalist Rob Halford, is expected to kick off at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa., March 13 and exits North America May 1 with a performance at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum.
