British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST have postponed the remainder of their U.S. tour due to “major medical heart condition issues” suffered by guitarist Richie Faulkner.

Produced by Live Nation, the rescheduled “50 Heavy Metal Years” trek kicked off on September 8 in Reading, Pennsylvania and was slated to run through October before concluding on November 5 in Hamilton, Ontario.

PRIEST‘s most recent show took place Sunday night (September 26) at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The band’s next date was originally set for Wednesday (September 29) at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado.

Earlier today (Monday, September 27), PRIEST released the following statement via longtime publicists Chipster PR: “it is with deep regret that we have to postpone the rest of our U.S. tour. Richie Faulkner has major medical heart condition issues which have landed him in the hospital where he is being treated. In the meantime, we are all sending love to our Falcon to wish him a speedy recovery…

“As soon as we have any updates from his doctors on when we can reschedule the dates, we will of course announce them — tickets will be valid…”

Faulkner joined PRIEST in 2011 as the replacement for original guitarist K.K. Downing.

Source: Blabbermouth