Farewell: Judas Priest Epitaph Tour

British metal stalwarts Judas Priest have a busy few months ahead: The band recently just announced a farewell US tour and have welcomed a new guitarist, Richie Faulkner, to replace the recently retired KK Downing.

Guitarist Glenn Tipton tells us "Doing these world tours takes a big chunk out of your life. We've been at it for almost 40 years. We love that moment on stage, but it's difficult to be away from home all that time. Bottom line is we won't be doing any more world tours."

Does this mean they'll complete stop performing live? Only time will tell. The band wants to make at least one more great metal album and hopes to get it out by Summer 2012.

But the first order of business will be the upcoming tour, which as of now kicks off October 12th in San Antonio and wraps up November 18th in East Rutherford, New Jersey with supporting acts Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society.

Confirmed Dates (more dates to be announced):

October:

12 – San Antonio, TX

14 – Corpus Christi, TX

15 – Houston, TX

16 – Dallas, TX

18 – Tucson, AZ

19 – San Diego, CA

21 – Phoenix, AZ

22 – San Bernardino, CA

23 – Las Vegas, NV

25 – Los Angeles, CA

26 – Oakland, CA

29 – Seattle, WA

November:

4 – Salt Lake City, UT

5 – Denver, CO

12 – Chicago, IL

13 – Detroit, MI

18 – East Rutherford, NJ

This could be your last chance ever to hang with JP, so request your passes today.