Judas Priest have announced a string of September and October North American dates in celebration of their 50th anniversary this year. The ’50 Heavy Metal Years’ Tour will also feature Sabaton as openers.

The band said in a statement: “Judas Priest are primed and ready to deliver the goods with our ’50 Heavy Metal Years’ anniversary celebration stage show spectacular! Performing a blistering cross section of songs from our lives in Metal – we can’t wait to raise horns with you again at this once in a Metal lifetime event!”

Priest also have European headline and festival dates booked throughout June and July and are slated to open for Ozzy Osbourne in the UK and Europe in October and November. This will be the third attempt for the Ozzy dates and should the twice-postponed schedule be put back again, it will leave Bloodstock Festival as Priest’s only UK 2020 appearance.

Unless Priest take over the UK dates in the event of Ozzy cancelling/postponing again. If that were the case, a solid and reputable support band would be needed to prop up the bill, and there’s not really a whole heep of them out there. This is pure speculation on our part as at the moment, Bloodstock is Priest’s only confirmed UK headline appearance.

As there has been no update at all on the guitarist situation, it must be assumed that Andy Sneap will once again deputise for Glenn Tipton on the 2020 dates. Glenn retired from touring duties after making his Parkinson’s diagnosis public in 2018 and although he remains part of the band he joined in 1974, he is no longer up to carrying out the band’s rigorous road schedules.

After producing Priest’s acclaimed last album, 2018s ‘Firepower’, Sneap stepped in to deputise for Tipton and has remained in place since. Whether this arrangement becomes a permanent one remains to be seen, meanwhile here’s the newly announced Judas Priest ’50 Heavy Metal Years’ Tour US dates.

9/9/2020      Oxon Hill, MD                          MGM National Harbor
9/11/2020      Uniondale, NY                         Nassau Coliseum
9/12/2020      Ledyard, CT                             Foxwoods Casino Arena
9/14/2020      Philadelphia, PA                      The Mann Center
9/15/2020      Newark, NJ                              Prudential Center
9/17/2020      Charlotte, NC                           PNC Music Pavilion
9/18/2020      Orlando, FL                             Central Florida Fair – Rebel Rock Fest
9/21/2020      Grand Rapids, MI                    Van Andel Arena
9/23/2020      Detroit, MI                               Fox Theatre
9/24/2020      Youngstown, OH                     Covelli Centre
9/26/2020      Chicago, IL                              Rosemont Theatre
9/27/2020      Minneapolis, MN                     The Armory
9/29/2020      Milwaukee, WI                        Miller High Life Theatre
9/30/2020      St. Louis, MO                           Saint Louis Music Park
10/2/2020      Oklahoma City, OK                  The Zoo Amphitheatre
10/3/2020      Dallas, TX                                Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10/5/2020      Austin, TX                               HEB Center
10/6/2020      San Antonio, TX                      Freeman Coliseum
10/8/2020      Albuquerque, NM                    Sandia Resort and Casino
10/9/2020      Denver, CO                              The Mission Ballroom
10/11/2020      Salt Lake City, UT                   Vivint Smart Home Arena
10/13/2020      Phoenix, AZ                             Arizona Federal Theatre
10/15/2020      Los Angeles, CA                      Microsoft Theater
10/17/2020      Las Vegas, NV                         Zappos Theatre at Planet Hollywood