Last rites: KK Downing quits Judas Priest just before farewell tour

[eyepaddle]

"After 40 years with Judas Priest, KK Downing has quit the band. The English heavy metal group will complete their farewell tour without their co-founder, replacing him with Richie Faulkner, a guitarist half his age.


Downing's retirement is abrupt, and Judas Priest have not given a reason for his decision. His band is just over a month away from launching their last ever tour, which sees them trotting from Holland to Bournemouth to Mexico for most of the rest of 2011. "Having thought long and hard about how to proceed," the metal legends said in a press release, " agreed go ahead with the tour and not let the fans down all around the world."'



Well, I'm bummed... I can accept his decision, but a part of my youth is now definitively gone. While he was definitely Priest's "second chair" guitarist he really showed me the way--the way that feedback + tremolo bar = awesome. I'd say his control of overtones set him apart from just some guy flailing away at the whammy bar. and I've always admired how he and Glenn Tipton kept evolving and growing as players. No two Judas Priest albums sound the same (well, maybe Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith, but aside from those...) yet they always sound like Judas Priest.

Here they are in 1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDt40PKKr3U&feature=related

and here they are in 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRF-3yG8D30

Thanks for the tunes Ken.

[Common Sense Party]

1. Bummer. Are all the other original members still there? n/t

[Iggo]

2. They've gone through quite a few drummers...

...but the rest of the players have been the same since at least the mid-70's.

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot about "Ripper" Owens. They had a different singer for a couple of albums, then they came back to their senses.

[Archae]

3. Why amd I having a "Spinal Tap" flashback?

:-)

[Iggo]

4. Me, too...while I was typing it. (n/t)

[Common Sense Party]

5. Did they? Who am I thinking of, the guy with the mustache?

Was it Dave Hill or something like that? That's the one I remember.

[eyepaddle]

6. Dave Holland

He was their drummer for the British Steel through Ram it Down time frame. He was the drummer through their most commercially succesful time frame, although it appears that Scott Travis has held the gig for the longest time (1989 through present).

[Common Sense Party]

7. British Steel through Defenders of the Faith...that was my favorite era.

Too bad he and K.K. won't be around on the Farewell tour.