Courtesy of Judas PriestJudas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton recently was forced to step down as a full-time touring member of the band because of the effects of Parkinson’s disease. Now, Tipton and the group have launched a new charity — the Glenn Tipton Parkinson’s Foundation — which is selling specially designed t-shirts via JudasPriest.com to raise money to find a cure for the disease.
“It was the band that suggested we start a foundation which, although in my name, is really a Judas Priest foundation,” Tipton explains in an online message.
“[W]e are selling t-shirts with the slogan ‘NO SURRENDER’ (a track off the latest album) which is very appropriate considering the determination you have to summon up to get on with life and beat this illness,” he adds. “It’s the sort of thing that always happens to ‘someone else.'”
The t-shirts, which feature a photo of Tipton playing guitar on the front and the “No Surrender” slogan on the back, can be pre-ordered now and are priced at $40. The shirts also will be sold at Judas Priest’s upcoming concerts.
Tipton also notes that funds raised by sales of the tees will go toward research into a “new pioneering treatment” for Parkinson’s sufferers, in which his own specialist, Dr. Peter Bain, is considered an expert.
Glenn has continued to perform on a limited basis with Judas Priest. As he explains, “I am still doing some shows and joining the guys on stage for some songs and will carry on for as long as I can without compromising the band. So far when I walk on stage the audience reaction has been amazing, heart-warming and quite emotional.”
Judas Priest current is touring Europe in support of its new album, Firepower.
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