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Ian Hill

For other people named Ian Hill, see Ian Hill (disambiguation).

Ian Hill (born 20 January 1952)[1] is an English musician, best known as the bassist and the sole continuous member of the heavy metal band Judas Priest. Along with lead guitarist Glenn Tipton, he is the only member who has appeared on all of the band's studio albums.

Ian Hill
Hill performing in 2022
Hill performing in 2022
Background information
Born (1952-01-20) 20 January 1952 (age 72)
West Bromwich, England
GenresHeavy metal
OccupationMusician
InstrumentBass
Years active1969–present
Member ofJudas Priest

Judas Priest

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Main article: Judas Priest

In 1970, together with schoolmate K. K. Downing, Hill joined heavy metal band Judas Priest.[2] He has been playing bass with the band ever since and is now the longest-serving member of the band, following Downing's departure in 2011.[3]

During the early years of the band, he played bass by finger-picking, but since the album Killing Machine he has played with a pick.

Hill is credited with playing bass on all of Judas Priest's albums, but on Painkiller bass was double-tracked with Don Airey's bass on a Minimoog synthesizer.[4] Hill is responsible for bringing Rob Halford into Judas Priest. The two met while Hill was dating Halford's sister and mentioned that he needed a new vocalist for his band. Halford accepted, leaving his previous band Hiroshima, and brought along drummer John Hinch, who would later be dropped by the band after one album due to "musical inadequacy", according to Judas Priest's website.[5]

When Hill was asked about his reaction to the 2001 film Rock Star, which was originally inspired by the real-life story of Tim "Ripper" Owens, a singer in a Judas Priest tribute band who was chosen to replace singer Rob Halford when he left the band, in an interview with PopMatters magazine, Hill responded "Well, it was a true work of fiction, you know? When we heard about the production company were going to make a movie based, as far as we knew, about Ripper joining the band we offered our help. We said 'If there's anything you want to know, talk to us at the time.' And certainly our communication was cut off and that was it and they went off on their own tangent." Hill added "I mean, I quite enjoyed the movie. [laughs] It was entertaining, you know?" Hill was quoted as saying "It had nothing to do with Rob Halford, Ripper Owens and Judas Priest, it's got nothing to do with that, whatsoever. It was fiction. Apart from the fact that 'Local Boy Makes Good'? That was the only true aspect of the movie." Hill was quick to add "I watched it once. I don't have the urge to watch it again. [laughs]"[6]

Personal life

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Hill learned how to play the double bass from his father, a bass player for local jazz acts. His father died when he was fifteen. Hill married Rob Halford's sister, Sue, in 1976 and they divorced in 1984. Together they have a son, Alex, who was born in 1980. Hill lived in Florida while he was married to his second wife, Letitia. They had a daughter with the same name.[7] He met his present wife, Jean, in 1999, and married in 2006. The couple resides in Staffordshire.[8]

He is a supporter of West Bromwich Albion F.C.[9]

Hill is featured in the 2024 documentary Cover Your Ears produced by Prairie Coast Films and directed by Sean Patrick Shaul, discussing the subliminal message trial Judas Priest were involved with.[10]

Musical equipment

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Hill performing in 2009

In the early years of Judas Priest, Hill played a 1970s Fender Jazz Bass, switching to Hamer in the mid-1980s. Since the late 1980s, Hill has played Spector basses. Spector currently produce an Ian Hill signature bass guitar, based on Hill's NS-2 and fitted with a narrower neck, with an optional tuning of BEAD.[11] He plays using a nylon flatpick of 0.75 mm thickness.

While Hill has used a wide range of different amplifiers through his career, he has been using SWR products since the late 1990s. His current rig consists of two SWR SM1500 amplifiers and four SWR TRIAD cabinets.[12] During the Jugulator and Demolition recording sessions, Hill used a five-string Spector bass to access the lower registers needed through the use of down tuned guitars by Tipton and Downing.

Discography

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For a more comprehensive list, see Judas Priest discography.

References

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  1. ^ Rose, Mike (20 January 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 20, 2023 includes celebrities Questlove, Rainn Wilson". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  2. ^ * Popoff, Martin (2007). Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers—An Illustrated History. ECW Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-55022-784-0.
  3. ^ "Judas Priest's Ian Hill". Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Deep Purple Keyboardist Don Airey: I Played Bass on Judas Priest's 'Painkiller'". Loudwire. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  5. ^ "JudasPriest.com". Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018. If for instance anyone out there has bought their "JUDAS PRIEST – THE BEST OF" – Insight Series, then they would find that 50% of the album consists of a mindless interview with John Hinch an ex-drummer with Priest who we had to let go because he was musically inadequate.
  6. ^ Maçek III, J.C. (1 June 2015). ""We're All Fans" An Interview with Judas Priest's Ian Hill". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  7. ^ Trucktrends Archived 25 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, K. S. Wang, 2008
  8. ^ "Ian Hill". Letsplaybassguitar.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Judas Priest's Ian Hill: 'I must be West Brom's only Fan!". Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Cover Your Ears". IMDb.com.
  11. ^ [1] [permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Swrsound.com". Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
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