Andy Sneap is “incredibly dissapointed” but respectful of Judas Priest’s decision to tour as quartet

Former Judas Priest touring guitarist Andy Sneap says that he is “incredibly” disappointed by the band’s decision to perform as a quartet on its upcoming 2022 tour.

Sneap, who co-produced Priest‘s latest album, “Firepower”, began touring with the band four years ago after longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of the LP, due to being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The British heavy metal legends released a statement in which they said that they were planning to return to the road as “an even more powerful, relentless four-piece heavy metal band.” They also thanked Andy for all he has “done and continuing to be in the production team” for the group’s next studio album.

Rob called me last Monday and said they wanted to move on as a four-piece, which I find incredibly disappointing after this amount of time but I respect his decision as they obviously have a vision how they want this to play out.

This always was a temporary situation, and like I’ve said before, I’ll always help the band any way I can, and that applies going forward also

I’ve been a huge fan of the band since the early ’80s and it was mind-blowing to play onstage with the guys and quite frankly terrifying in the beginning at such short notice.

We are moving forward with the new album next month and look forward to making a killer follow-up to “Firepower”Andy Sneap

Two and a half years ago, Sneap said that he would continue to play guitar for Judas Priest “as long as they want me to.” During an appearance on the Talking Bollocks podcast, Sneap stated: “It’d be great if Glenn was up there doing it. That’s the thing that really… it’s always in the back of my mind; it really is. But it’s just nice that he asked me to do it. As long as they want me to help out, I’ll help ’em out. That’s kind of the way I’m looking at it, really.”

Last November, Judas Priest announced the rescheduled 50 Heavy Metal Years North American tour dates for March-April 2022. Support on the trek will come from Queensrÿche.