How Richie Faulkner Almost Blew His Chance to Be in Judas Priest

Guitarist Richie Faulkner has become an integral part of Judas Priest's lineup over the past decade-plus, but according to Rob Halford, the guitarist almost missed out on his chance to join the band while believing their interest wasn't real.

Prior to Judas Priest, Faulkner had stints playing with Deeds, Voodoo Six and Lauren Harris (the daughter of Iron Maiden's Steve Harris). But after K.K. Downing announced his intent to leave Judas Priest, the band found themselves in the position of seeking a new band member for the first time in ages.

"It was tough. We didn't know what we were going to do," shared Rob Halford while speaking to David Ellefson at the Scottsdale, Arizona Rock-N-Roll Fantasy Camp (as viewed below).

How Did Judas Priest Discover Richie Faulkner?

"We found him on the internet," confessed Halford.

"We had to be very low key and careful. You know — 'Heavy Metal Band Seeks New Guitar Player.' You can't do that. But I forget how we found him, but when Glenn [Tipton] and I saw him, it was like, 'That's the guy.'"

Why Did Richie Faulkner Almost Miss Out on Joining Judas Priest?

Judas Priest's discreet nature of seeking to fill the position almost backfired on them. According to Halford, the band got hold of Faulkner's email and reached out to him about meeting about the position but the guitarist didn't think the emails were legit.

"With Richie, we sent him emails and he kept deleting them because he thought it was a joke," says Halford. "Honestly, we sent him 16 and it was delete, delete, delete. And then somehow somebody said, 'You keep deleting these emails?' and he was like, 'Oh, it's spam dude, it's spam.' [And someone told him] 'No, it's really not. They really want to get in touch."

How Richie Faulkner Joined Judas Priest

As stated, Judas Priest thought enough of Faulkner after looking him up on the internet to reach out for a meeting.

"We were already playing and Richie came up to London and we just chit-chatted briefly," recalls Halford. "You know how it is when you meet somebody for the first time. We need a few moments and the feels are there and so we talked for about 10 minutes and I said, 'Let's just jam.'"

"So we set up a stack for him in Glenn's studio and I said, 'Just go and play and get loose.' He goes up in the room and starts playing and we just look at each other — 'This is the guy,'" shared the singer.

Richie Faulkner's History With Judas Priest

Richie Faulkner officially joined Judas Priest in 2011 as their guitarist and backing vocalist. It was revealed that Downing would not complete the band's Epitaph World Tour and that Faulkner would be handling guitar duties on the run.

READ MORE: What K.K. Downing Thinks of Judas Priest's Richie Faulkner

Rather than continue toward retirement, the group felt a renewed creativity and welcomed Faulkner into the creative process as they wrote new music. He would then appear on their 2014 album Redeemer of Souls. He's since remained a vital part of the group appearing on 2018's Firepower and 2024's Invincible Shield as well.

Judas Priest's Rob Halford Speaks at Scottsdale's Rock-N-Roll Fantasy Camp