Often noted for his complex playing style and classically influenced solos, he is best known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest.

Tipton soon bought a black Stratocaster and, later, a Gibson SG Special afterwards with money he received to replace his stolen guitar.

[2] On Sad Wings of Destiny, Tipton showed off more of his guitar work on songs like "Tyrant", "Dreamer Deceiver" and "Victim of Changes".

Although Tipton wrote the lyrics for the songs shortly after joining Judas Priest, producer Rodger Bain rejected putting them on the first album as being not commercial enough.

From then onward, Halford and Tipton would be the band's principal songwriters with occasional contributions from Downing.1980's British Steel was Judas Priest's commercial breakthrough.

This album combined the band's trademark heavy metal sound with pop-style song structures and hooks.

His first solo effort was the album Baptizm of Fire, which was released in 1997, followed by Edge of the World in 2006, which was a project from the sessions for Baptizm of Fire released under the name Tipton, Entwistle and Powell in tribute to John Entwistle and Cozy Powell who contributed to the initial sessions.

[9] At the 20 March 2018 show in Newark, New Jersey, Tipton joined the band on stage to perform "Metal Gods", "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight",[10] then "Victim of Changes"[11] and "No Surrender"[12] on later dates.

Prior to the band's performance, he expressed uncertainty regarding his future role in Judas Priest, "It's an unanswerable question, really.

"[14] Tipton did not make any more appearances on the remaining dates of the band's world tour due to his illness, as explained by bassist Ian Hill.

[15] Tipton lives in the village of Romsley, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands near Birmingham, England, and has a state-of-the-art recording studio built next to his home.

[19] Rob Halford said that Tipton rejected the idea of having to be assisted with an additional guitarist backstage on tour for cover on some of his guitar parts or to use backing tracks.

[21] Bassist Ian Hill explained that Tipton faced a similar situation during rehearsals for the Redeemer of Souls Tour in 2014.

At the time of the announcement, he said that Tipton made the decision to step off the stage due to his health, which caused emotional heartache for the band.

"[26] Tipton's daughter, Karina Greenin, took part in an annual marathon in Barcelona to help raise funds for her father's foundation, which exceeded her £3,500 goal.

"[29] Faulkner provided an update on Tipton in July 2020, saying that he was still in good spirits, but was "going a bit nuts" due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Downing and drummer Les Binks joined the band on stage for the first time in over a decade to perform alongside Tipton during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.

Judas Priest played an encore with "Hell Bent for Leather," then Halford welcomed Tipton to the stage for the final three songs of the set - "Metal Gods," "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight.

Going right back though, I've listened to a lot of early blues players, and I think the first band I saw live that really made an impression on me, was The Spencer Davis Group.

Steve Winwood was a great all round vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player and I remember trying to learn 'Georgia' on the piano after I had seen them play.

They have so many classic songs such as 'Jumping Jack Flash', 'Honky Tonk Women', 'Sympathy for the Devil', 'Brown Sugar', or their earlier stuff like 'This Could Be The Last Time', 'Paint It, Black', 'It's All Over Now' the list goes on and on.

[33] Tipton is a big fan of soundtrack music, something that is evident in listening to Judas Priest's metal opera Nostradamus.

Tipton used SGs and a Stratocaster with two DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers as his main instruments until the mid 80s when he started using various Hamer guitars including some signature models, which were used almost exclusively in live performances until 2009 when the Stratocaster and one of the SGs was brought out of retirement for the British Steel 30th anniversary tour.

During the period from 1978 to 1979, he used a black Gibson Les Paul Custom, and he started using a modified CBS-era Fender Stratocaster with Dimarzio Super-Distortion (humbucking) pickups.

Around 1984, he switched to a Hamer Phantom GT model, which was fitted with one EMG humbucker, a Kahler tremolo, and one volume pot.

In 2009, Tipton took his Fender Stratocaster and Gibson SG Special out of retirement for the British Steel 30th Anniversary tour.

During the Jugulator and Demolition era, Tipton was endorsed by Crate amplifiers, using their Blue Voodoo heads in the studio, home, and when touring.

He would drop this endorsement during the 2004 reunion tour for live performances switching to a large rack unit with multiple preamps and effects processors with a Marshall 9100 power amp.

Since the beginning of the 2008 world tour, Glenn has gone back to mostly using a rack system, sans the current use of Engl amp heads.

A detailed gear diagram of Glenn Tipton's 2004 Judas Priest guitar rig is well-documented.