Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton is thanking fans for their support in raising $150,000 for his Parkinson's Foundation from the sale of “No Surrender” t-shirts during the band’s “Firepower” world tour.
“I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who bought The Glenn Tipton Parkinson's Foundation charity t-shirts throughout the various tour legs,” says the rocker, “and a big thank you also to those who had the bike selfies done. I'd also like to thank Rob, Ian, Richie, Scott and Andy - the donations are building up nicely and that wouldn't have been possible without all the hard work from the guys in the band and the crew who went onstage every night and helped raise money for a great cause
“We will report on the amount raised as we go along - it currently stands at just over US $ 150,000 - but there's still a long way to go. For anyone who wants to donate to the charity there will be a link set up soon to make that possible - once again thanks to everyone.”
Tipton announced his retirement from touring last year to deal with his Parkinson’s battle; he hand-picked “Firepower” co-producer Andy Sneap to take over his guitar duties on the road as the band brought their new music to fans around the globe.
“It was the band that suggested we start a foundation which, although in my name, is really a Judas Priest foundation,” explained Tipton last year. “We are selling t-shirts with the slogan 'No Surrender’ which is very appropriate considering the determination you have to summon up to get on with life and beat this illness – it’s the sort of thing that always happens to ’someone else'
“There are many Parkinson related charities were we could send the funds we raise to which deal with the many different aspects of this disease both physically and mentally - but what really excites me is a brand new pioneering treatment called MR-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy, which although in its early stages has already had great success with a Parkinson's related condition called essential tremor.
“Dr Bain, my specialist who is one of the leading experts in this field, and his colleagues are now turning their attention to treating Parkinson's patients with this state of the art MR scanners and are very optimistic as to the positive results that are emerging.”
“All proceeds we receive from you will go to this cause and I urge not just Judas Priest fans but everyone out there to help,” adds the guiatrist. “If you can't get to the shows, you can also purchase t- shirts online here."
Judas Priest will next be seen joining Ozzy Osbourne for a rescheduled European tour in 2020, with shows set to begin in Nottingham, UK on January 31.
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