Richie Faulkner Says Stroke Gave Him Permanent Brain Damage

Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner is still dealing with complications after having an aortic aneurysm and multiple open heart surgeries, noting in a recent interview that permanent brain damage has been done.

Back in 2021, Faulkner collapsed onstage with a ruptured aorta during Judas Priest’s performance at the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky, prompting emergency surgery. More operations have followed in the years since and the effects have been long lasting.

Faulkner recently spoke with Premier Guitar and explained that about a month after his initial operation, he experienced what he later learned to be a TIA, a transient ischaemic attack, often referred to as a “mini-stroke.” Faulkner said that although he does not remember specifics of that day, doctors informed him that TIAs can lead to full-scale strokes. He experienced another TIA about a year later, and underwent another heart surgery. By then, Judas Priest had resumed touring with Faulker— he got permission from his doctors — but he could tell something was off.

“There was something in my right hand — I thought it was my rings; I wore these stupid rings for some reason. And I thought it was that,” he said (via Blabbermouth). “So I took the rings off. I thought it was impeding something. I was changing my picks. There was something different. I could get through it, but there was something different about my right hand. And again, I could get through it. I was brushing my teeth one morning and I thought, ‘Something’s wrong with the right hand. Something’s different.'”

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After being examined by doctors, Faulkner learned that he hadn’t just had mini-strokes.

“They said that the fact that it hasn’t gone away means that it’s not a TIA; it’s a stroke,” he continued. “TIA damage can go away. Stroke — that’s it. It is damaged. You’ve got damage in your brain. Now I thought I had brain damage before, but this is real. It’s a small thing on the left side.”

Faulker Felt Guilty Over Not Playing the Same

At the same time, Faulker says he was worried that he was letting Judas Priest fans down with the way his illness was affecting his playing.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of trust from the fanbase, from the guitar companies, the string companies. They back you. They put their bets on you, and I don’t want anyone to know, because as soon as they know, they’re gonna lose faith, they’re gonna bail out,” he said. “And I felt that in a band like Priest, it’s gotta be world-class stuff and I don’t feel world-class. I went out there every night. I feel like a fraud because people don’t know — maybe. But one day they’re gonna find out. Someone’s gonna find out, someone’s gonna say he’s not playing that the same.”

Despite this, Faulkner says the setback has encouraged him to make the best of the situation.

“I know there’s a lot of people out there that play, they sing, whatever they do, and they feel like they’re not good enough or that we don’t have these issues as well, and it affects your mental health,” he said. “And I want them to know that they’re not alone. All of us, probably more people than we are all aware of, struggle with something somewhere.”