Way back in 1966, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore co-founded the British rock band Deep Purple. Singer Ian Gillan joined up in 1969, and the band went on a hugely influential and commercially successful run. Hits like "Smoke On The Water" and "Highway Star" helped establish the blueprint for hard rock and heavy metal. Deep Purple's lineup was never stable, and Blackmore left in 1975. In recent years, he's been feuding with the current lineup of the band, which once again includes Ian Gillan, who has left and come back many times. On Wednesday night, Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple onstage for the first time since 1993.
After leaving Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore founded a new band, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, that included singer Ronnie James Dio. (After breaking up several times over the years, one Rainbow lineup reunited for a German festival in 2016, and they toured for a few more years.) Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple in the '80s, but he left again in 1993. Since the '90s, Blackmore and his wife Candice Night have been making folk-rock as the duo Blackmore's Night.
Today, Ritchie Blackmore is 81 years old and living on Long Island, and he's suffering from a number of health problems. In a long audio clip that he posted on Instagram on Tuesday, Blackmore said that he would get back up onstage with his old band when they played at Long Island's Jones Beach Theater on the next night. That's exactly what happened. Near the end of the show, Blackmore came out to play guitar on "Smoke On The Water," more than 50 years after he wrote that song's iconic riff. Here's a fan video:
The Instagram audio clip that Blackmore posted on Tuesday was, no joke, 33 minutes long. (Shout out to Blabbermouth for transcribing it.) In that clip, Blackmore said, "It is a secret and I don't want anybody to know, but I'm probably get up and do an encore with the band Deep Purple. But you can't tell anybody." Blackmore said that he suggested the reunion by messaging Ian Gillan, telling him, "I don't want to intrude" but asking if he could come up and play one song, for "old times' sake."
On Instagram, Blackmore said he'd restrung his Stratocaster for the first time in 25 years and that he couldn't play it for more than one song. He listed many of his current health challenges, including a recent vertigo attack, severe gout, arthritis, and heart and back issues. He went on, "It'll be good to see the old guys again. I think we'll all be on crutches and wheelchairs and things, although I think the rest of them are OK." (Deep Purple's current bassist and drummer, Ian Paice and Roger Glover, were in the band back in the '60s and '70s.)
For an 81-year-old man with a lot of health issues, Blackmore looked great up there! When the "Smoke On The Water performance was over, Ian Gillan told the crowd:
I gotta say something. A couple of days ago, I got a message. I'm falling over. A couple of days ago, I got a message from a local lad... I got a letter from this may saying, "I live around the corner, do you mind if I come and jam with you?" It was an absolute pleasure to have, back onstage, a founding member, the great legend, the immortal Ritchie Blackmore! Thanks, Ritchie. I have to say, it was a great pleasure. I'll see you in the bath.
Last night's reunion wasn't just a reunion; it also marked the end of a long public feud between Blackmore and Gillan. When Deep Purple were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016, Blackmore did not attend the ceremony, claiming that the band's current lineup didn't want him there. In his version, Gillan said that Deep Purple didn't want to stage a reunion that would include the band's current members. Rock 'n' roll legends tend to hold grudges for long periods of time, so it's cool to see these guys bury the hatchet at a moment when they're still able to perform together, even if only for a single song.
