Judas Priest announced that longtime bassist Ian Hill is leaving the band.
He has been with the band longer than Rob Halford and Glenn Tipton and was the only one to perform on all 19 of the group’s studio albums, from “Rocka Rolla” in 1974 to “Invincible Shield” in 2024, Ultimate Classic Rock reported. He also played on the follow-up to “Invincible Shield,” according to Rolling Stone.
Hill will be replaced by Davey Rimmer, who has been with Uriah Heep since 2013 and also performs with Elegant Weapons with guitarist Richie Faulkner.
In the post announcing his retirement, the band called Hill a “backbone of Judas Priest for so long and will be greatly missed by us all.”
Hill said he had “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.”
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....we wish him well in his retirement and welcome Davey into the Priest Family.... pic.twitter.com/5d58iemy3S
— Judas Priest (@judaspriest) October 9, 2026
He missed his first Judas Priest show because of a tendon injury, and Rimmer took his place, UCR reported.
Their 2026 performances are over, and their next show is in June 2027 in Oslo, Norway.
Judas Priest was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
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