GLENN TIPTON IS 62 WITH NO SIGNS OF SLOWING!

Venerable leather enthusiasts and heavy metal founding fathers Judas Priest celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, and today is the birthday of guitarist Glenn Tipton, who with guitarist K.K. Downing, forms the fierce nucleus of Priest’s original and massively influential sound. Speed, dexterity, and rugged invention are the hallmarks of the Tipton/Downing dyad. Theirs are the iron fists that pummel one bloody whilst Rob Halford snarls and soars, a gut stuck opera singer on a tear.

Without Priest there would be no Iron Maiden, no Megadeth, and a lot less quality heavy music overall (not to mention a very different iconic look for many bands). They remain an active, exciting touring entity and continue to push themselves creatively, putting out their first double studio album last year themed around Nostradamus. We raise a toast to Glenn Tipton, and then a second to the whole lot of them. Thanks for keeping music heavy, sirs!

There’s really nowhere else we could begin except Priest’s signature anthem presented in front of a seething arena mob.

“I’ll be damned, here comes your ghost again.” Thus begins one of the best songs in Judas Priest’s gigantic catalog, “Diamonds And Rust.” Always a touch more sensitive even amidst so much groin thunder, Priest excels at personal laments that speak to us, especially in our angst riddled youth (and those parts that remain with us throughout our lives). Here they are in Memphis on 1982′s Screaming For Vengeance Tour.

After decades of slapping this one around, Priest now shares partial ownership of Fleetwood Mac’s landmark “Green Manalishi (With The Two-Prong Crown).”

Here’s one for aspiring guitarists out there. Glenn teaches us some basics for “Breaking The Law,” “Victim of Changes,” and “Hell Bent For Leather.”

Rob broke out the baddest wizard robe for this 2008 Jimmy Kimmel performance of one of the standouts on their latest album.

There are few spectacles as guiltily satisfying as the start of a Priest concert. A primitive Transformer gives Halford a reach-around in this clip. Really.

Continue reading for more Priestly blessings…

So much air guitar has been played to this! This version is taken from the glorious 2004 Reunited Tour, which saw Halford return to the band after a few years apart. Metal hearts everywhere leapt a little when this tour was announced.

Tunes like this are part of the reason Judas Priest was nearly untouchable in metal in the early ’80s. Boogie meets scrappy proto-thrash. Yum!

Bold, scientifically precise, technically exacting, and tough as nails, this is primo Priest.

More primo Priest from the Defenders of the Faith album, captured in full overblown glory for your weekend amusement.

Rob Halford looks like an escapee from the Hellraiser films in this clip, which roars with a nice punk rock edge full of fast, ugly guitar noise and a beyond ragged vocal.

We conclude with one of the greatest riffs in rock history. Slather that with a snotty, rebellious lyric, deliver it all with appropriate attitude and you’ve got a bonafide classic. Long may the Priest reign!