Shocker: K.K. Downing Quits Judas Priest

On the eve of their farewell tour, guitarist K.K. Downing quit Judas Priest. Color me stunned. Quite frankly I don't think anyone saw this coming. Downing has been playing with the band for more than 40 years.

In a statement on the official Judas Priest website the band announced Downing's retirement. Guitarist Richie Faulkner will perform on the upcoming tour.

Also part of the statement:

"Having thought long and hard about how to proceed, Rob, Glenn, Ian and Scott unanimously agreed that they should go ahead with the tour and not let the fans down all around the world."

Judas Priest plans to play songs from every one of their studio albums on the Epitaph tour. The tour begins in June.

What do you think about this? In my opinion, I am now considering Judas Priest officially "dead."