Judas Priest’s Longtime Bassist Ian Hill Announces Retirement: ‘Time Has Come’ — SkimNews
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- Ian Hill announced his retirement from Judas Priest on Friday, citing advanced arthritis in his left shoulder, right hand, both shoulders, and both knees, along with a tendon he snapped in his left shoulder just before the encores at the Brussels show during the band's recent European tour.
- Davey Rimmer of Uriah Heep served as Hill's understudy on the European tour and will replace him as Judas Priest's new permanent bassist, a role Hill had held continuously since co-founding the band in 1970 with guitarist K.K. Downing.
- Hill appeared on every Judas Priest studio album from 1974's Rocka Rolla through the upcoming follow-up to 2024's Invincible Shield, making him the only member present across the band's entire recorded catalog.
- Hill said he had "neglected my family life for fifty seven years" and wanted to spend his remaining years with family rather than risk being unable to complete a full stage show.
- Judas Priest and Hill were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022; the band currently has no tour dates scheduled until summer 2027.
- Rob Halford joined Judas Priest in 1973, guitarist Glenn Tipton joined in 1974, and Downing departed in 2011 — Hill outlasted every lineup change in the band's 55-year history.
Why it matters: Hill's exit closes the longest uninterrupted tenure in Judas Priest's history and ends the career of the sole constant across all 18 of the band's studio albums. With no tour dates until summer 2027 and a new album already recorded featuring Hill's bass lines, Rimmer inherits both the road duties and the challenge of carrying that legacy forward for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–inducted act.
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