Ian Hill Explains Decision to Retire from Judas Priest: “I Had No Choice”

Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill has opened up about his decision to retire from Judas Priest.

Hill had been the longest-serving member of the band, having first joined in 1970, and is one of only two members to have appeared on every single Judas Priest album.

In his statement announcing his retirement, the 74-year-old Hill cited arthritis and other physical ailments as the reasons for stepping away from the band, as well as his desire to spend more time with his family.

Now, in an interview with the YouTube channel Metal Pilgrim, Hill expanded on his original statement, saying (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), “It is funny, because the last couple of tours have been a bit of a struggle, because this trouble is basically my shoulder and my thumb — [I’ve got a] great big lump on my thumb, which is all arthritis. I’ve been struggling with that for the past couple of tours or so. And it doesn’t go away, unfortunately, and it’s one of those things that just gets worse as time goes by. And I almost retired at the end of the last tour.”

He also elaborated on a severe tendon injury, as well as revealing that Judas Priest nearly opened for Iron Maiden on their recent North American tour:

“It’s funny the way it came about. Iron Maiden said, ‘Do you fancy doing a four-week tour of America this year?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, that sounds okay, a four-week tour of America, quick four weeks.’ Then they pulled out. In the meantime, we’d put in Bloodstock in Britain, which is the festival in Britain. So you can’t tool up to do one show. So the next thing, ‘Oh, we’ll do one or two dates in Europe around Bloodstock.’ And nine weeks later… And that’s what did it. We did six shows in eight days. That was running up to Brussels, so that’s when the tendon snapped. Because we were averaging maybe a day on, a day off, day on, day off, so the crew could get to the next gig and what have you. And, of course, it was recovering on the days off. Obviously, I wasn’t doing anything, so it recovered. And then, of course, you go on stage and you aggravate it all over again. But then it was sort of, like I say, six shows in eight days, and I’d never had time to recover. And right before the encores on the Brussels show, I just felt a snap and a real sharp, searing pain, and I thought, ‘That’s it. That’s the end of it.’ And for the encores, I had to actually get my elbow and rest it on my stomach and pull the bass back so I could get down to the bottom of the neck. And it’s easing off a lot now. I can sort of lift it and do things that I couldn’t do immediately after that. I mean, I couldn’t move it at all. From the elbow down, everything was fine. It worked a treat, but I just could not move my shoulder. And that’s why I had to miss the London show. I physically could not play the bass.

Judas Priest named Uriah Heap’s Davey Rimmer as their new bassist after he filled in for Hill at a recent show in England. Hill said of his replacement, “There were some questions of whether I’d be able to make it through because of the troubles I’d had in the past. So we did ask Davey to come, and he came over to Andy [Sneap]’s place in Derbyshire. And he learnt the set and went through it with the rest of the guys. I just sat out in the kitchen listening to him. And he did a fucking unbelievable job, really. So short, two days’ notice. You’re on stage. Wow. So, he’s flying. He had to use all my equipment and everything. He just brought his basses with him, and he pulled off an incredible, incredible performance.”

Hill went on to say that a doctor recommended he hold off on surgery since there was no guarantee it would be successful. That ultimately led to the bassist retiring from the band outright.

“I had no choice, really, than to knock it on the head,” explained Hill. “I couldn’t put the rest of the guys in jeopardy and go out on another tour, and [have] it happen all over again in the middle of a tour. It’s not fair on anybody — the fans, the rest of the guys, the people have put money into us to get us out to these places, and suddenly you’re having to cancel shows and things. It’s not fair. So I decided to call it a day, and I have. I’ve neglected family life. It’s cost me two marriages over the years. So I decided to spend a bit of time with the folks.”

Hill reflected as well on whether he might have ultimately retired at the end of this year’s touring schedule anyway, commenting on the increased difficulties with arthritis as he ages as well as wanting to avoid the awkwardness of announcing it from the stage.

As for the future, Hill revealed that he laid down bass for Judas Priest’s upcoming studio album, with nearly all bass tracking completed. He also stated he would not be a stranger, stating he intended to see the band from the audience and was more than willing to join for guest spots in the future while respecting Rimmer’s position as the new bass player of Judas Priest.

Watch the full interview with Metal Pilgrim below.