Rock Report: Ian Hill Hangs Up His Bass, Def Leppard Plans a Big 2027, and Todd Snider’s Final Ride
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 10, 2026
Judas Priest loses its last original member, Aerosmith reunites with friends at the Hollywood Bowl, a posthumous Todd Snider record arrives, and radio honors its own in Chicago.
Good morning, south Georgia, and happy Saturday. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, because there's a lot going on in the rock and roll world this weekend. We'll start with some bittersweet news from the heavy end of the dial.
Ian Hill, the bassist for Judas Priest, has announced his retirement. Classic Rock magazine reports that he is stepping away because of an ongoing battle with arthritis. Hill joined Priest in 1970, before Rob Halford or Glenn Tipton came aboard, so he was the band's longest-serving member and its last original one. Fifty-plus years of holding down the low end is a career worth raising a glass to. Thank you, Ian.
There's good news on the road, too. Def Leppard have announced a 45-date North American run for 2027 with the Goo Goo Dolls and The Struts, and a dollar from every ticket goes to cancer research. Nickelback have announced their Everything Under The Sun world tour for 2027, which supports their eleventh studio album.
Out in Los Angeles, Aerosmith are heading back to the Hollywood Bowl for two all-star nights billed as California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends. Reports say drummer Joey Kramer is back behind the kit. The guest list keeps growing: Heart, the Black Crowes, Run DMC, Billy Idol, Sammy Hagar, Tom Morello, and now Guns N' Roses, along with Slash and Duff McKagan.
Queen fans, the restored concert film Queen: Budapest, from the band's 1986 show in Hungary, is now in theaters. Brian May has also cleared something up: he says a recent comment about Queen touring was misread, and he'd 'never say never' to hitting the road again.
For our Americana friends, this one hits close to home. My Second Rodeo, the posthumous album from the late Todd Snider, came out yesterday on Thirty Tigers and Aimless Records, just days before what would have been his 60th birthday. Snider recorded the ten songs shortly before he died and called them 'the sound of country music 10 years from now.' The lead single, 'Solid Country Gold,' was co-written with Jack Ingram.
Now let's take a trip back in time. On this date in 1969, King Crimson released their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, with Greg Lake on vocals and Robert Fripp on guitar. It's widely considered the album that launched progressive rock. Over on the softer side of the progressive world, The Alan Parsons Project's debut, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, is getting a 50th-anniversary reissue.
And one for the radio family: on Thursday night in Chicago, the Radio Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2026. The honorees include Shotgun Tom Kelly of SiriusXM 60s Gold, Boomer Esiason, Helen Little, Rickey Smiley, Bob Pittman, Dennis Green, and the legendary air personalities Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston. Congratulations to everyone who has kept the magic coming through the speakers.
That's the news for now. Stay tuned, and keep it right here on Pretoria Fields Radio.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
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