It's no secret that Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey played keyboards on Judas Priest's 1990 album Painkiller. What we didn't know is that Airey actually played bass on the album, and not Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill. Airey revealed this for the first time ever in an interview with AntiHero Magazine, adding that Hill wasn't well at the time and a lot of the bass on the record is actually a Moog.
"They were so worried about it, they didn’t even give me a credit I don’t think, on the album," he said. "They paid me, which is always the point. But recently, I mean this last month or so… It’s a wonderful album Painkiller.
"And Scott Travis has spilled the beans about it that all the bass parts are me playing on the mini. It’s Moog bass on the whole album, that was Ian Hill’s bass mixed in as well on parts. But at the time Ian wasn’t very well. So, he wasn’t at the sessions. So, I got made to do all the bass and they kept it. I mean, it was a funny old job. I only got to play proper keyboards on one track, I can’t remember what the track is. I just read about it yesterday that they’d actually said, I’ve never said a word about it before. I mean, it was an exciting album to do. They’re wonderful people to be around."
Judas Priest is currently working on a new album, which vocalist Rob Halford recently compared to songs found on Painkiller.
