Wednesday, October 25: Tig’s Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today to guitarist Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest. He’s 70. Other rockers celebrating include guitarist Matthias Jabs of the Scorpions (62), drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers (56), Yes singer Jon Anderson (73), and bassist John Leven of Europe (54).

Judas Priest formed  out of Birmingham, England in 1969 and have sold 50 million records worldwide. The current lineup for Judas Priest is Rob Halford on vocals, guiatrists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band’s most successful album was 1982’s Screaming for Vengence. It was the band’s commercial breakthrough featuring the classic lineup of Halford, Tipton, Hill, K.K. Downing, and Dave Holland. The album would sell over 5 million copies with the hit single “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”.

Judas Priest continued with much success throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Their last studio album was 2014’s Redeemer of Souls. The band just confirmed the title of their upcoming new album and announced a tour. The album will be called Firepower and the Firepower 2018 Tour kicks off March 13 in Wilkes Barre, PA at Mohegan Sun Arena. New York area dates include 3/17 in Uniondale, NY at Nassau Coliseum, 3/20 Newark, NJ at Prudential Center, and 3/22 Uncasville, CT at Mohegan Sun Arena. Cheers to the great Glenn Tipton on his 70th!