Ian Hill Says He Had 'No Choice' in Retirement From Judas Priest

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

Hill joined the legendary metal group in 1970 and went on to become Judas Priest’s longest serving member. The bassist announced his departure from the band on Oct. 9, citing “the onset of the evil arthritis” as his reason. In a recent conversation with Metal Pilgrim, the bassist shed further light on his retirement.

“The last couple of tours have been a bit of a struggle, because this trouble is basically my shoulder and my thumb,” Hill explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “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.”

Hill went on to explain that he thought he'd be able to manage the situation, until the band started playing more shows.

“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,'” the bassist recalled. “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.”

As Hill explained it, the rigorous demands of constant gigging finally caused his body to give in. Even the occasional day off to recover didn’t help things heal. “You go on stage and you aggravate it all over again,” he remarked.

When Ian Hill Realized He Was Done Performing

The moment Hill knew he was done came during a performance in Brussels.

“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,'” he recalled. “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.”

“I physically could not play the bass,” Hill explained, noting that his shoulder pain was simply too severe. "So I had no choice, really, than to knock it on the head.”

As Hill explained it, the decision to retire wasn’t just for his own wellbeing, but for the betterment of Judas Priest and the fans.

“I couldn't put the rest of the guys in jeopardy and go out on another tour, and it happen all over again in the middle of a tour,” he noted. “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."