Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton unfortunately revealed he could no longer tour with the band in 2018 due to his worsening Parkinson's disease. Tipton has since joined the band on stage for numerous encores, and has even stated he wants to record with the band.
"He's a wonderfully strong, beautiful man," said Halford. "And before this horrible pandemic closed everything down, we were working over at Glenn's, writing material for the next Priest album, which will come out when it's ready; we still have a long ways to go. But we were there, and Glenn was making contributions. He can still play the guitar, albeit in his own particular way.
"Parkinson's is a really cruel, terrible, horrible thing to happen to anybody —to see the physical debilitation that it creates. But your brain is still there — you're still functioning as a person. But in a guitar sense, it's very, very difficult to play anything anymore. But like we [say] on this great song on the last Priest album, Firepower. 'No Surrender'. You don't give in. You fight, fight, fight, and that's what Glenn's doing right now.
"Incidentally, he has this wonderful Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation. We've raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for Glenn over the years, and we're still continuing to do that. Some of the advances that they have in Parkinson's now are extraordinary, but the funds and the finance to keep searching are vital.
"But he's doing great. He's beautiful. I can't to see him again and give him a hug."
Judas Priest is currently working on a new album, and will record once they're able to all get into a room safely.
