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Bassist Ian Hill of Judas Priest performs on the final night of the band's Firepower World Tour at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 29, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rock
Judas Priest Bassist Ian Hill Announces Retirement From Band Citing Battle With ‘Evil Arthritis’
The group's longest-serving member will be replaced by the bass player from fellow British hard rockers Uriah Heep.
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Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill announced his retirement from the British heavy metal group on Friday morning (Oct. 9), effective immediately. In a message to fans on Instagram, the band lamented the loss of its longest-serving member, writing, “It is with heavy hearts that we are sending out this personal message from our Ian….he has been the backbone of Judas Priest for so long and will be greatly missed by us all.”
The post also contained a lengthy personal message from Hill, 75, who opened by describing his answer to the frequent question of how long he could continue with the band he joined with his childhood friend, guitarist K.K. Downing, in 1970, a year after original vocalist Al Atkins founded the “Breaking the Law” group in Birmingham, England.
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“I’ve always answered, ‘until my performances suffer,'” Hill wrote. “I hate to say it, but that time has come. For some years now, I’ve been struggling with the onset of the evil arthritis, which is now in an advanced state in my left shoulder and right hand, established in my right shoulder, and present in both knees. I’ve been fighting this with painkilling pills, gels, and recently with cortisone injections in my shoulder and hand.”
He added that even though he was able to play his basslines on the songs for Priest’s upcoming album, it was unclear if he’d be able to finish out the band’s most recent European tour without incident. That’s why the group asked Uriah Heep bassist Davey Rimmer to step up and learn the band’s set list for their Faithkeepers tour, in case Hill had to step aside for a show, which he had to do on Sept. 21 during Priest’s show at London’s Eventim Apollo.
Hill said he had to skip that show after “snapping a tendon” in his left shoulder just before the encores at a gig in Brussels on Sept. 18.
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“This led to me not being able to lift my arm enough to reach the neck of my bass,” Hill wrote. “So we had to call Davey to stand in for me, who put in an incredible performance at such short notice!” Hill said he’s seen specialists, who’ve suggested he might be able to forge ahead without surgery, but even if he doesn’t “there’s no guarantee either way that I’ll have enough strength in my shoulder/arm to complete a whole stage show.”
In light of the various health issues, and the fact that he’s “neglected my family life for fifty-seven years,” Hill said he’s made the hard decision to retire and spend his remaining years “making up for it, and doing things with them before it involves one of ’em pushing me around in a wheelchair.”
He heaped praise on “great” bassist and “genuinely nice bloke” Rimmer, wishing him the best in his new gig in the band that was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t give thanks for the incredible journey I’ve lived through, and it just remains for me to say that I love you all, and thank you for the life you’ve let me live,” said Hill.
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Fellow long-tenured British hard rock veterans Uriah Heep sent their blessing for the lineup shuffle, writing on Facebook, “We would all like to wish Davey our very best in this very coveted position in one of the giants of heavy metal and hard rock. Davey will continue to play with Uriah Heep in 2026 and on all shows in 2027 where schedules permit. For the shows that don’t, we will be announcing a replacement in due course.”
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Hill is the only Priest member to appear on all 19 of the band’s albums, from their 1974 debut, Rocka Rolla, through the upcoming, as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2024’s Invincible Shield. After spending all summer on the road in Europe on the Faithkeepers tour, the band has a long layoff before its next gig in June 2027 at a pair of festivals in Norway and Denmark.
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