Glenn Tipton
Glenn Raymond Tipton (born 25 October 1947) is an English guitarist. Often noted for his complex playing style and classically influenced solos, he is best known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is the second longest-serving member of the band, after bassist and co-founder Ian Hill. Tipton and Hill are the only two members of the band who have appeared on every studio album.
Glenn Tipton
Glenn Raymond Tipton
25 October 1947
Blackheath, England
- Musician
- songwriter
- Guitar
- vocals
1968–present
Early life[edit]
Tipton was born on 25 October 1947, in Blackheath, Staffordshire, to Olive and Doug Tipton. He attended Olive Hill Primary School when he was about five years old. His brother, Gary, was a guitar player for a local band called the Atlantics. Early on, Tipton was taught to play the piano by his mother.
Tipton learned to play guitar at age 19 with his first guitar being a Hofner acoustic guitar. He would then play on a Rickenbacker until he was able to afford a Fender Stratocaster.[1] This guitar would become his main live guitar until it was stolen at a show. Tipton soon bought a black Stratocaster and, later, a Gibson SG afterwards with money he received to replace his old guitar.[2] Both of these guitars can be seen when Judas Priest played on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1975.[3][4]
Personal life and illness[edit]
Tipton lives in the village of Romsley, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands near Birmingham, England, and has a state-of-the-art recording studio built next to his home. During the 1980s he also bought a property in Spain. He is or was married and has two children—Karina and Rick—born in 1981 and 1986, respectively,[16] both of whom were featured on his solo album Baptizm of Fire.[17] Tipton and former Judas Priest bandmate K.K. Downing are long-time tennis players and also both of them took up golf during an early 1980s American tour with Def Leppard.[18]
On 12 February 2018, Tipton revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, with which he was first diagnosed in 2008, thus ceasing his duties to perform on tour as the disease's progression left him unable to play the more challenging material.[19] Rob Halford said that Tipton rejected the idea of having to be assisted with an additional guitarist backstage on tour for cover on some of his guitar parts or to use backing tracks. He then said that he witnessed first-hand the struggles Tipton experienced during the making of Firepower.[20] Halford later said that Tipton made his decision five days prior to his public announcement, adding that Tipton would be "with us in spirit – every show, every song" on tour, and being overwhelmed by positive support and responses from fans.[21] Bassist Ian Hill explained that Tipton faced a similar situation during rehearsals for the Redeemer of Souls Tour in 2014. At the time of the announcement, he said that Tipton made the decision to step off the stage due to his health, which caused emotional heartache for the band.[22] Tipton said that he was shocked to hear the news of his diagnosis and "made me even more determined to fight. I could still play, so I just continued recording and touring."[23] He would later say that he was "sort of shocked", describing it as "a pretty cruel disease."[24]
In June 2018, Judas Priest launched the Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation in Tipton's honour, in which they would sell specially designed t-shirts featuring Tipton playing guitar on the front and with the slogan "No Surrender" on the back with the Judas Priest cross on it. Tipton explains that the foundation would help raise money in hopes of finding a cure for Parkinson's disease. He also says that a new "pioneering treatment" from his personal specialist would also help treat other sufferers of the disease.[25] Hill said that the band had known for some time that Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease before his announcement, again recalling the difficulties during the first days of the Redeemer of Souls Tour, but improved as time progressed. He says that Tipton's "as good as anyone can be given the situation. Glenn is out with us most of the time, anyway. And when he's feeling well enough he'll get on stage, and I can't promise anything, but he'll get up and do the encores with us."[26]
Tipton's daughter, Karina Greenin, took part in an annual marathon in Barcelona to help raise funds for her father's foundation, which exceeded her £3,500 goal.[27] Richie Faulkner recalled that Tipton was diagnosed during the Redeemer of Souls Tour, "maybe, actually, a bit before. So, after the 'Epitaph' tour, but before the 'Redeemer Of Souls' tour he got diagnosed, and they told him that he had it for quite a few years before that, but he didn't know. He kept it quiet, which is his business… He chose to go and check it out and they told him that it was the onset Parkinson's, and he told us. But he was able to do the 'Redeemer Of Souls' tour." He then said that the set had to be slightly changed in order to accommodate him. The band did not perform a few songs on the first part of the tour, but upon their appearance in Australia, they began to perform them due to Tipton's resurgence in his health and managed to successfully perform the entire tour, but stepped down during rehearsals for the Firepower World Tour due to the disease's progression which caused emotional heartbreak for the band.[28] Tipton expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the fans for their support for him, "particularly over the past year which has been a tough one for me.....thank you all so much! No surrender!!"[29]
Faulkner provided an update on Tipton in July 2020, saying that he was still in good spirits, but was "going a bit nuts" due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[30]
Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing and drummer Les Binks joined the band on stage for the first time in over a decade to perform alongside Tipton during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.[31]
Tipton joined Judas Priest in the Power Trip show on October 7 2023. Judas Priest played an encore with "Hell Bent for Leather," then Halford welcomed Tipton to the stage for the final three songs of the set - "Metal Gods," "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight."[32]
