With almost 300 years of life on Earth collectively under their belts, the men of Judas Priest have finally decided to call it quits… sort of. The UK’s Guardian revealed that nearly four decades after their debut LP Rocka Rolla first landed on your dad’s record player, Judas Priest will embark on one last world tour.
Rock AAA reports that the band is merely quitting going on exhaustive journeys, but it must surely sadden fans to know that the metal pioneers may only exist as a studio entity after the tour is over. A press release says that 2011’s Epitaph tour will give fans of the 42-year-old metal outfit one last chance to see the Priest “rock the planet with all guns blazing and amps cranked to 11,” and while dates for the excursion haven’t been announced yet, Rob Halford & Co. are already confirmed to headline London’s High Voltage Festival in July. (Dream Theater and an Evel Knievel museum will also be at the festival, but that’s beside the point.)
With over 16 albums and almost 30 tours over and done with, it’s hard to argue that the band hasn’t earned the right to quit touring and guitarist K.K. Downing seems to have mixed feelings about the whole thing. “[Touring] is the hardest thing you will ever do, but you wouldn’t change it for the world,” he recently said, “Traveling becomes such a major part of your life that you feel like a piece of luggage yourself, but when you get to go to places you’ve never been before, you feel like the luckiest man alive.”
Tickets to the High Voltage Festival are available here, and while dates for the tour haven’t been announced yet, we’ll keep you posted if anything develops. In the meantime, share your with us your fondest Judas Priest memories in the comments section below.
Photo by Jacob Martin via JudasPriest.com
