Judas Priest Guitarist Suffers Aortic Aneurism On Stage, Completes Painkiller Solo

This might be the most metal thing ever. Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest suffered an aortic aneurism last week during a concert in Kentucky and still managed to complete the solo flawlessly for Painkiller. (He's the dude playing the Flying V lead guitar for those unfamiliar with him)

There are many reasons why Judas Priest belongs on the Mt Rushmore of Metal and this type of thing just adds to the legends.



I don't know exactly when he suffers the attack, but a minute or two into the set when the close up screen on the right side focuses on him it looks like he's having some trouble and may even start to walk off the stage.

loudwire.com...

“As I watch footage from the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing ‘Painkiller’ as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity,” Faulker wrote after successful heart surgery. ”I was having what my doctor called an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection. From what I’ve been told by my surgeon, people with this don’t usually make it to the hospital alive.”

According to the National Library of Medicine via Nashville Vein Center, “only about one in five people survive a ruptured aortic aneurysm.”

Fan-shot footage from Judas Priest’s Louder Than Life set shows the “confusion and anguish” on Faulkner’s face as he shreds through “Painkiller,” which ended up being Priest’s final song of the night. Despite his aorta literally rupturing onstage, Faulkner absolutely crushed the lengthy solo to one of the most metal songs in history.

"One in five" survive a ruptured aortic aneurism and I have to assume nearly 100% of the time that 1 in 5 survives it while instantly taking a rest until the ambulance arrives, only Richie effing Faulkner survives it while shredding one of metals most iconic riffs. In 10 years the guy has managed to reach status as a legitimate guitar lord based on his skill and now he's reached Metal God status for finishing the set with a blown up aorta.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

I effing love Judas Priest thanks to my late band (older gentlemen) .
Do you think this may have been related to the coronavirus injection?

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: burdman30ott6

I effing love Judas Priest thanks to my late band (older gentlemen) .
Do you think this may have been related to the coronavirus injection?

I was very much wondering that. Faulkner said in interviews he drinks a lot of energy drinks and the sporadic beer, but wasn't into the drugs or hard drinking. I know those energy drinks can be real bad news, so maybe that was a contributing factor.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

That level of caffeine in an older gentleman may be a cause for that I Think.

We will never know the truth but I am curious.

JP doesn't get enough love, they are so prolific and still jam. All the years

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: burdman30ott6

That level of caffeine in an older gentleman

He's only 41...

a reply to: burdman30ott6

And not to be that guy but is he vaccinated?

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: burdman30ott6

That level of caffeine in an older gentleman

He's only 41...

That's made me feel old.
41 years ago I could've gone to see Judas Priest with my older sister but turned down the offer and let someone else go.
The support band was a new lot who few thought would ever make it big....Iron Maiden was their name. You might have heard of them.

Anyway, hope the guy gets better.

Definitely got some British Steel.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: burdman30ott6

That level of caffeine in an older gentleman

He's only 41...

That's pretty crazy... He was born 6 years AFTER the first Judas Priest album.



This was a nice convenient coincidence.

“The amazing Heart & Lung Center was 4 miles away from the gig site...."

loudwire.com...

The article says, "Painkiller ended up being Priest’s final song of the night"....
It doesn't really matter, but I'm curious how far into the set they actually were... If that was already near the end of it anyways.

originally posted by: BrokenCircles
The article says, "Painkiller ended up being Priest’s final song of the night"....
It doesn't really matter, but I'm curious how far into the set they actually were... If that was already near the end of it anyways.

www.setlist.fm...
Looks like they were all the way through the setlist and have been closing out all the dates on the current tour with Painkiller.
www.setlist.fm...
BUT they also seem to have done an encore each prior night, so this certainly seems to have marked an incident that pre-empted an encore in Kentucky. (though Metallica closed the show, so maybe there wouldn't have been an encore from Priest at all?)

Was listening to Priest just last night.
Glad he survived, hope he makes a full recovery.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Hope he makes a full recovery. Damn most drop dead after that, his blood was pumpin!




That made me feel like a kid again.


Fun Fact:

My best friend back in the 80's and still, Sister had a baby to a guy named james that committed suicide. He was 1 of 2 that were listening to Judas Priest while drinking and smoking illicit herbs.
James was not lucky and was killed. Instead his face became what we call Taco'd. Eventually he died 2 or 3 years later. So his family and Garricks sister who had an infant by the by James sued Judas Priest. Naturally I got angry at her. I understood her childs needs, but it was bogus due to what the 2 were doing prior to the incident( in my opinion) and the bogus Subliminal messages.
Ken McKenna was a friend of my mothers (rolls eyes).

That's what happens when you do something so much that it's baked in instinct and you literally can do it in your sleep.

a reply to: burdman30ott6
Whata snag, Burd and thank you. Bumped bigly I hope.

I've got a log in this fight, no typo it's a 3.8 cm bulge
down there. I'm only a bass player so punch my pit pass,
Richie. Glad he's OK and I'm carryin a styptic pencil from
now on for a quick stab & grab.
We're in pretty heavy company however-- Einstein and
Sir Issac both died of lower aortal blowouts.
PS EDIT:: And with that growth Halford and Bilbo Baggins
are Neck-'n'-Neck for the "Most Mushroom -Influenced
Geriatric Level Wombbroom in the Northern Hemisphere 2021."

2 words : Guitar Hero.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Not directly on-topic, but related...(not Faulkner related though).

I actually partied with JP once at our hotel back in the late 80's. It was the craziest experience ever. So crazy it didn't even seem real at the time, and looking back on it it still seems pretty unreal.

I had this friend who was a total metalhead and managed a record store, his name was Butch. A long time before Butch had set out on a quest to see every major and upcoming metal band and artist in the industry live. He had a pulse on every band who was on tour and when they would be doing shows (I'm talking like, every single band, every single venue, dates, times...he was a walking encyclopedia of rock shows).

One day Butch calls me up out of the blue and asks if I want to see JP. It was on very short notice (next night) and it was about an 7 hour drive, but he had two extra tickets he'd just scored (somehow). They were VIP front row tickets, but no backstage passes. I had to ask him twice...JP was coming to Wyoming?????? No major metal bands like that ever came to Wyoming!! And this was on their Screaming for Vengeance Tour, so all their shows were sold out across the country.

My answer? "Oh Hell YEAH! I'll go!!

It got weirder in a hurry though. I don't remember the details now, but some problem had led them to cancel one of their shows and reschedule at a different venue (Wyoming). Problem was, there was another big name who was scheduled to play the same venue on the same night, and that was the band Alabama (who were legends in Wy. at the time). So they worked out a deal. Alabama would go on first, and JP would go on last. It was almost like Alabama was a warmup band for JP, but it wasn't...it was a dual-headline show. Watching Alabama get followed by the likes of Judas Priest was some serious Twilight Zone material if there ever was some! It was an awesome show! Both of them actually.

JP was headed for a show in SLC 3-4 days later. The day of the show it was snowing (HARD) all the way to Cheyenne. Elk Mountain was barely passable when we went through and that was in the morning. By the time the JP show was over it was after midnight and I-80 had long since been closed. We managed to score a room at the Hilton. We had to get a suite because it was the only room available. After the show we went back to the hotel. Fortunately we'd bought lots of beer ahead of time, all the stores were closed. About an hour after we got back to the room we heard what sounded like an army coming down the hallway. We went out and looked and it was Rob Halford and the rest of the JP entourage. They'd managed to rent all the suites on the floor except for ours

We'd no sooner poked our heads out the door when Halford pointed and says..."HEY...Aren't you guys the ones who were down in the front row at the show tonight??? You guys can't sing for S#, actually you SUCK! LOL! (some of the other guys laughed) BUT, you definitely know how to rock!...we're partying with you guys tonight!!"

The rest was pretty much history. They were stranded just like we were. Nothing too crazy happened. Just your usual party with a bunch of beer and liquor...but hey, we were partying with JUDAS PRIEST!! Hotel had to tell us to keep it down a couple times, but other than that nothing major. Just a bunch of regular guys really.

It's funny, when you get in a situation like that you kind of even forget who you're with after a while. We were so shell-shocked at the start of the whole hotel thing that we realized the next day (after they were gone) we didn't really have a lot to show for it besides a few autographs. Most importantly though...we had the memories, and that was good enough.

What a crazy experience!

(True story too)

Kudos to him for doing that, even if a bit mental.

But ugh I cannot stand the whine of the voice. it's grating. never been a fan.

But that's not to detract from the story... haha, "VERY METAL"

a reply to: jerich0

It's a tough as nails move, and it will make him a legend. I'm glad he survived it.

There are some sounds that we just can't stand. You don't like the metal whine, and I can't do the country metal guitar thing.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: jerich0

It's a tough as nails move, and it will make him a legend. I'm glad he survived it.

There are some sounds that we just can't stand. You don't like the metal whine, and I can't do the country metal guitar thing.

Oh the first time I heard James Hetfield doing his country style stuff, I cringed...

So sad...

I'm more a Clutch fan... it's not country, but it's got country in it !!

a reply to: burdman30ott6

get out of my head: '....you gotta nother thing comin!' *riff*