Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner recently opened up about the lasting effects of the medical emergency he experienced while performing on stage.
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During Judas Priest’s Louder Than Life performance in Kentucky in 2021, Faulkner was delivering an electrifying “Painkiller” guitar solo when he suffered a life-threatening aortic rupture.
With blood pooling into his chest cavity, Faulkner was rushed to the University of Louisville’s Rudd Heart & Lung Center for immediate medical intervention. There, he underwent a critical 10.5-hour emergency open-heart surgery. The London-born guitarist later discovered he had suffered an aortic aneurysm coupled with a complete aortic dissection—a life-threatening combination that is often fatal.
About a month after his surgery, Faulkner revealed to Premier Guitar that he had returned to the hospital, initially believing he had experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), often referred to as a mini-stroke. This incident was followed by a second TIA a year later, which ultimately led to another heart surgery.
Richie Faulkner’s Condition is Re-Diagnosed
At this point, Richie Faulkner was back on tour with Judas Priest, but something still felt wrong. Further tests revealed that what he had gone through wasn’t just a mini-stroke.
“They said that the fact that it hasn’t gone away means that it’s not a TIA; it’s a stroke,” Faulkner told Premier Guitar. “TIA damage can go away. Stroke—that’s it; it’s damaged. You got damage in your brain now.”
Although Faulkner could still perform, he worried that the quality might not meet the high standards Judas Priest (who celebrated their 50th year in 2024) hardcore fans have come to expect.
“I felt that, in a band like Priest, it’s got to be world-class stuff, and I don’t feel world-class,” he admitted. “I went out there every night, I feel like a fraud because people don’t know — maybe. But one day they’re gonna find out. Someone’s gonna find out, someone’s gonna say he’s not playing that the same.”
Faulkner also admits to having good and bad days.
“Sometimes I come off stage and I call home and I say, ‘I can’t f***ing do it. I can’t do it. I can’t do it.’ There’s stuff that I used to play — I used to think something, and it would come out. And now I’m up there struggling to play like a rhythm pattern. ‘I can’t do it. I can’t. I’m gonna quit. I can’t do it.’ And then you have a good one. So who wants that? But that’s the way it is.”