No, your eyes did not deceive you – the one and only Judas Priest just debuted their new guitarist, Richie Faulkner, tonight on 'American Idol'! Ripping through a medley that included kick ass renditions of two 'British Steel' classics ("Living After Midnight" and "Breakin' the Law") with major Priest fan – and this season 'American Idol' hopeful – James Durbin joining in on vocals.

 

This is the second time that Durbin has professed his admiration for Priest on the show, as he wowed judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler a while back with a rendition of "You've Got Another Thing Comin'." Although Durbin was recently voted off the show, he undoubtedly has a bright rocking future ahead, as evidenced by his multi-octave vocal range.

 

Judas Priest recently announced plans to launch their farewell Epitaph Tour, which will take them around the world, including a just-announced U.S. tour of arenas from October through December, which will also feature opening acts Black Label Society and Thin Lizzy.

 

Speaking on Wednesday to the Rolling Stone website, Priest singer Rob Halford had the following to say about what fans can expect on the group's forthcoming trek. "We're pulling out all the stops. We've built a brand new stage set, we've got all the effects that people love us for – the lasers, the fire, the bombs, the smoke, new costumes, and the bike. It's just a full-on metal extravaganza."

 

Few heavy metal bands have managed to scale the heights that Judas Priest has during their nearly 40 year career. Responsible for not only issuing some of metal's all-time classic albums ('British Steel,' 'Screaming for Vengeance,' and 'Painkiller') and anthems (the aforementioned "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight," and "You've Got Another Thing Coming"), the group has been one of the leading arena rock acts for decades, and single-handedly introduced the "leather look" to heavy metal.

 

And now Judas Priest are set to blast their way round the world one final time.

 

Confirmed Judas Priest U.S. Tour Dates (more dates to be announced shortly):

 

October:

 

12 – San Antonio, TX: AT&T Center

14 – Corpus Christi, TX: Concrete Street Amphitheater

15 – Houston, TX: The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

16 – Dallas, TX: Allen Event Center

18 – Tucson, AZ: Ava Amphitheater

19 – San Diego, CA: Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre

21 – Phoenix, AZ: AZ State Fair

22 – San Bernardino, CA: San Manuel Amphitheater

23 – Las Vegas, NV: Hard Rock

25 – Los Angeles, CA: Gibson Amphitheatre

26 – Oakland, CA: Oracle Arena

29 – Seattle, WA: WaMu Theater

30 – Vancouver, BC: Rogers Arena

 

November:

 

1 – Edmonton, AB: Shaw Conference Center

2 – Calgary, AB: Scotiabank Saddledome

4 – Salt Lake City, UT: Maverik Center

5 – Denver, CO: 1STBANK Center

12 – Chicago, IL: The Venue at Horseshoe Casino

13 – Detroit, MI: Joe Louis Arena

18 – East Rutherford, NJ: Izod Center