Friday, January 1: Happy Birthday Guitarist Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest

Happy Birthday today (Jan. 1) to guitarist Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest. He's 36. Faulkner replaced guitarist K.K. Downing in the band after Downing's departure.

Richie Faulkner's first appearance with Judas Priest was on American Idol
in May of 2011 where the band performed "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law". Faulkner also appears on Judas Priest's 2014 release, Redeemer of Souls. Redeemer of Souls was released on July 8, 2014. The album sold around 32,000 copies in the U.S. and debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart marking the band's first U.S Top 10 debut. Judas Priest supported the album with a world tour in 2014 and continued touring throughout 2015.

Check out the official Judas Priest website here.