JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner has once again spoken about the ongoing health challenges he continues to face following his life-threatening medical emergency in 2021. In a recent interview with BJ The DJ of Albany, New York’s Q105.7, Faulkner reflected on the physical hurdles he deals with four years after suffering an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection while performing at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
When asked whether he has to take special precautions to prepare for PRIEST shows these days, Richie shared his current reality and the lasting effects of that harrowing experience.
“Fortunately, I don’t have to do anything too heavy,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Luckily, I just have to remember to take my meds, which I’ve forgotten this morning. Thanks for reminding me. That’s sometimes the hardest thing. I’ve had a bit of collateral damage on my right side with stuff connected to what happened. So I have to work at that. We have a physio on the road, and I work with him three times a day: once in the morning — after these interviews, I’m gonna work with him on coordination — before the show and then after the show as well. We do that three times a day. So that sort of stuff I have to work on. But as far as the heart and everything’s concerned, it’s meds. I can’t eat too many leafy greens, which I’m not too bothered about. I got lucky, really. There’s a lot of people around the world with a lot more serious conditions than I have. So I consider myself lucky to be here talking to you.”
When asked whether that means his health is all good and he’s “good to go,” Faulkner responded: “As far as I’m aware, but you never know what’s around the corner. You’ve gotta live each day to the fullest.”
Right after JUDAS PRIEST’s 2021 Louder Than Life performance, the cardiothoracic surgery team at Rudd Heart and Lung Center, UofL Health – Jewish Hospital, spent around 10 hours performing the now-45-year-old British guitarist’s first major operation: an aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement with hemiarch replacement, a procedure that ultimately allowed Richie to return to touring.
On September 27, 2021, JUDAS PRIEST announced that they were postponing the remainder of their U.S. tour so that Faulkner could be treated for a heart condition. The following day, his girlfriend Mariah Lynch, daughter of former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch, said that Richie was “stable and resting” after undergoing “major emergency heart surgery.”
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