Up until now, one of Andy Sneap's biggest honors was getting asked to fill in for Glenn Tipton in Judas Priest. But the musician and band producer just added another big tribute this past week, receiving an honorary masters degree from Derby University.

The honor came during another landmark occasion for Sneap as he celebrated his 50th birthday this past Thursday (July 18). Sneap was given an Honorary Master of the University for his contribution to the rock music industry.

"Thank you for all the birthday messages, very kind. It was a very different day as some of you may have seen," stated Sneap in a photo recap of the festivities on social media. "I was made an honorary master of the universe by the lovely folk at Derby university. I would like to point out this does not make me Dr. Sneap as Rob Halford seems to have renamed me, although I fear this title will now stick with me for the foreseeable future."

Sneap was introduced midway into the ceremony and the Honorary Master and his speech can be seen at around the 44-minute mark in the video below. "I'm possibly the worst advocate for further education you could have picked," Sneap began his speech, recalling leaving school as a teenager after his dreams of being a metal guitar player were not encouraged by his teachers. That said, Sneap said he was impressed after being asked to work with Derby University. "It struck me how time had moved on for the better and I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and knowledge the newer generation of students had gained by their time at Darby," stated Sneap, who intends to work with the university in the future as well.

Judas Priest currently have no more dates scheduled for the remainder of the year, but do have touring starting up again in Europe in late January 2020. See their tour dates here.

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