Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has revealed that he suffered an “Aortic Aneurysm” while performing last month, resulting in the need for emergency heart surgery.

In a statement, Faulkner recalled the incident that occurred during Judas Priest’s concert at the Louder than Life Festival in Kentucky on September 26.

He began the statement by saying, “being able to type this to you all is the biggest gift of all”.

“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. I was having what my doctor called an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection,” Faulkner said.

He added, “From what I’ve been told by my surgeon, people with this don’t usually make it to the hospital alive. I was taken to nearby Rudd Heart & Lung Center and quickly went into what turned out to be a 10 1/2 hour emergency open heart surgery. Five parts of my chest were replaced with mechanical components. I’m literally made of metal now.”

Faulkner wondered if something worse would have happened if it was a full set, and the Heart & Lung Center was more than 4 miles away from the gig site.

At the end of the statement, Judas Priest wrote a concluding note, which reads, “This is from our strong falcon – he will be flying high again just as soon as he is able.”

Judas Priest put the remainder of their U.S. tour on hold after Faulkner was admitted to the hospital.

(Photo: Stefan Bollmann)

Music News Service distributed by Frankly Media. Copyright(c) 2021 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved