The composition of the rock group deep purple. The most complete biography of Deep Purple

Star Trek Deep Purple:

The peak of Deep Purple's fame came in the seventies of the last century, but it is still loved and appreciated, because the band stood at the origins of modern rock. In the winter of 1968, Jon Lord, organist and jazz fan, Ritchie Blackmore, who had not parted with the guitar since preschool age, and talented drummer Ian Pace came up with a project called Deep Purple.

As a vocalist, they invited Rod Evans, who has a delightful ballad voice, and Nick Simper on bass guitar. In this composition, the team released the disc "The Shades of Deep Purple", which produced the effect of an exploding bomb in the United States - the Americans took the British team with a bang, and he immediately entered the top five. Success pursued the next two albums - The Book of Taliesyn" and "Deep Purple".

The number of fans of the group grew inexorably, the team held two grandiose tours of the cities of the United States. Only here in his native Foggy Albion he was stubbornly ignored. Then Lord, Blackmore and Pace resorted to drastic changes: Deep Purple left Evans and Simper, who, according to their comrades, had reached their limit and did not want to develop further. Their place was taken by bass guitarist and keyboardist Roger Glover and vocalist and lyricist Ian Gillan. In this composition, Deep Purple appeared on the stage of London's Albert Hall along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sounded then "Concerto for a rock band and symphony orchestra", written by Jon Lord, rallied around the team of fans of rock and classics. And in 1970, another album saw the light - "Deep Purple in Rock". It was a completely new product: powerful vocals and heavy riffs, high volume and serious drums. Now you will not surprise anyone with this - any "metal" band uses such techniques. But in those years, Deep Purple stirred up the whole world.

Then the team went on a European tour, Lord was invited to write the music for the film, and Gillan was invited to perform the main part in the greatest rock opera of all time - "Jesus Christ Superstar". But after a couple of years, the fighting spirit of the group began to decline. First, Glover and Gillan left the team, then Blackmore left. They were replaced by other artists, and a year later the magnificent Deep Purple ceased to exist.

And only in 1986, Lord, Blackmore, Pace, Gillan and Glover came together again and released the disc "The House of Blue Light", which included the best hits of the group.

Deep purple is a British rock band, stars of the 70s. Music critics rank this group among the founders of hard rock and highly appreciate the contribution of musicians to the development of progressive rock and heavy metal. There is hardly a person who has never heard the work of this group, because they are the authors and performers of such immortal hits as "Smoke on the water", "Highway star" and "Child in Time".

History of creation

The group formed in 1968. The main initiator of the creation of the team was drummer Chris Curtis. In 1966, he left The Searchers, but planned to continue his musical career. At the same time, keyboardist Jon Lord was also on the lookout. They met by chance, but immediately hit it off. Curtis gave the new band the name "Roundabout", which means "carousel".

It turned out that the Lord had a talented guitarist in mind - it was about, who then lived in Germany. He was offered a place on the team, and he accepted.

It was at this moment that the main initiator of the creation of the group disappeared, there were rumors that this disappearance was related to drugs. Of course, the project at this point was under threat. But Jon Lord took matters into his own hands.

Already during the first tour, the musicians decided to rename the group. Everyone wrote their own version on a piece of paper. The names "Fire" and "Deep purple" caused the most controversy. As a result, we settled on "Deep Purple" - "dark purple". Suggested by Ritchie Blackmore, it was the title of his grandmother's favorite song, a romantic ballad by Billy Ward.

Compound

The composition of the Deep Purple group has changed several times over the 50-year history of its existence. A total of 14 people were in the group. And only the only member - drummer Jan Paice - has been in the team since its inception to this day. For the convenience of determining the compositions, it was customary to number them Mark X, where X is the number of the composition.

The group gave its first concerts in Denmark. Rod Evans performed vocals, Ritchie Blackmore and Nick Simper played guitars, Jon Lord played keyboards, Ian Paice played drums. It is noteworthy that in their native England, few people listened to their work. But in the USA they collected huge platforms.

Soon the band's frontmen - Blackmore and Lord - met Ian Gillan. He sang in the band "Episode Six", and the musicians were amazed by his vocals. He auditioned for "Deep Purple" with bassist Roger Glover, with whom they were an established songwriting duo at the time.

They were immediately invited to join the group, although they did not inform Rod Evans and Nick Simper about this. For some time, Rod and Nick were in the dark that without them, rehearsals were already actively taking place. They continued to perform at concerts with the band. But it didn't last long.

As a result, Evans and Simper were paid monetary compensation, and were also entitled to annual deductions from the sale of records in the amount of 15 thousand pounds. But Nick decided to do otherwise - he sued, sued 10 thousand pounds, but lost deductions. This decision was extremely strange.

The biggest hits and albums were recorded as part of Mark 2, which included Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover and Ian Paice.

In 1973, misunderstandings and disagreements began to arise in the group more and more often. In the middle of the year, after finishing work on the next album, Gillan and Glover left the band. At Blackmore's insistence, the group continued to work, and its line-up was replenished with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

Subsequent albums were not as successful, Richie was unhappy with this and in May 1975 he also decided to leave Deep Purple. Guitarist Tommy Bolin was invited to replace him, but his playing style was not suitable for hard rock, plus, he became addicted to drugs.

So already in 1976, the group's managers announced its dissolution. Just a couple of months after Deep Purple broke up, Bolin died of a heroin overdose.

In 1984, Gillan decided to reunite the team. With a classic line-up, they went on a world tour and recorded two albums.

The album "Perfect Strangers" quickly went platinum. But between Blackmore and Gillan, the "showdown" began again, and Ian was forced to leave.

Richie invited former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lee Turner to replace him, but the other members reacted negatively to this. He was soon retired and Gillan returned to the team.

This time Blackmore could not stand it. He was replaced. But in this composition they failed to record a single album. Some fans of the team believed that without Blackmore the group would not exist, but they were wrong. And Richie wasn't sitting around doing nothing. He had a Rainbow team. And in 1997, together with his wife Candice Knight, he founded the Blackmore's Night group.

Satriani was replaced by American guitarist Steve Morse. They acted like this until 2002 - then Jon Lord decided to leave the team. Don Airey took his place. In 2011, it became known that Lord had pancreatic cancer. The musician died on July 16, 2012.

Music

In the first composition, the group recorded three albums. But the real success "fell" on the musicians in 1970 with the album "Deep Purple in Rock". It was this record that brought the band to the ranks of the most popular rockers of the century. The album immediately hit the top of the charts, and they went on tour. Despite the constant traveling, that year they still managed to record the disc “Fireball”.

And after a couple of months they went to Switzerland to record the album "Machine Head". It was there that their legendary hit “Smoke on the Water” was born. This happened when a fire suddenly started during a concert. Subsequently, Glover dreamed of this fire and smoke spreading over Lake Geneva. In the morning he got up with a line on his lips:

"Smoke on the water, fire in the sky".

On the wave of unprecedented popularity, they went on a tour of Japan. After the tour, the musicians recorded an equally successful live compilation "Made in Japan", which later went platinum.

They were extremely surprised by the Japanese public. At concerts, the audience sat and listened without moving or making sounds. And only at the end of the song they burst into applause. "Deep purple" are accustomed to a more "loud" audience. Both in the USA and in Europe, during their performances, everyone screamed, jumped up from their seats, rushed to the stage.

After Gillan's departure, the band recorded the album "Burn". And they decided to present the new songs "Deep purple" at the famous show "California Jam". The festival gathered over 400 thousand people. In the world of music, this is truly a unique event. But that year, it was also remembered by the viewer for the trick of Ritchie Blackmore.

Deep Purple had a fireworks show scheduled, the group was supposed to be the last to take the stage after sunset. But it so happened that one of the participants did not come, and they were asked to speak earlier. The guitarist categorically refused to go out and simply closed himself in the dressing room. In order for Richie to take the stage, the organizers resorted to the help of the police.

Of course, Richie was so angry that during the performance he broke the guitar, hit it on the operator's video camera, set the stage on fire and exploded. Such an extravaganza at the festival has never happened before. The group “ran” from the police by helicopter, however, they still had to pay a fine for broken equipment.

In 1984, after the reunion of the "classic" line-up, "Deep purple" recorded the album "Perfect Strangers" and went on a world tour. Tickets for their concerts were redeemed instantly. In 1987 they released The House of Blue Light. In 1990, Slaves & Masters was recorded with new vocalist Joe Lee Turner.

On the eve of the band's 25th anniversary, Ian Gillan returned. At the same time, the album "The Battle Rages On ..." was released, which means "The battle continues." It was some sort of nod to the constant "battle" between Richie and Ian.

During their career, the band has released 20 studio albums, 34 live albums and countless singles. Deep Purple was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

The musicians presented their latest work for today quite recently - in 2017 they presented the fans with the record "Infinite". At the same time, they announced that in support of the new album they were going on The Long Goodbye Tour, which would last about three years.

"Deep purple" now

In the fall of 2017, it became known that "Deep purple" would come to Russia in 2018. As part of the tour, the musicians will give concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Ritchie Blackmore also decided to visit Russia in 2018. In April, he performed live with the reunited line-up of Rainbow. Thus, the musician decided to put an end to the career of a hard rock musician.

Clips

• 1970 - "Child In Time"
• 1972 - "Smoke On The Water"
• 1972 - "Highway star"
• 1980 - "Hush"
• 1999 - "Soldier Of Fortune"
• 2017 - "The Surprising"

Discography

• 1968 - "Shades of Deep Purple"
• 1969 - "Deep Purple"
• 1970 - "Deep Purple In Rock"
• 1971 - "Fireball"
• 1972 - "Machine Head"
• 1973 - "Who Do We Think We Are"
• 1974 - "Burn"
• 1974 - Stormbringer
• 1975 - "Come Taste The Band"
• 1984 - "Perfect Strangers"
• 1987 - "The House Of Blue Light"
• 1993 - "The Battle Rages On"
• 1998 - Abandon
• 2003 - "Bananas"
• 2013 - "Now What?"
• 2017 - "Infinite"

deep purple are a British rock band formed in February 1968 in Hartford, England. She is considered one of the most notable and influential hard rock artists of the 70s. Music critics consider Deep Purple one of the founders of hard rock and praise their contribution to the development of progressive rock and heavy metal. The musicians of the "classic" composition of Deep Purple (in particular, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Pace) are considered virtuoso instrumentalists. Over 100 million copies of their albums have been sold worldwide.

First line-up of Deep Purple (Evans, Lord, Blackmore, Simper, Paice)

For more than 40 years of the history of the group's existence, its composition has changed several times, in total, 14 people performed in the group at different times. Drummer Ian Paice is the only musician to have been featured on all of Deep Purple's lineups.

Deep Purple lineups are usually numbered Mark X (MkX for short), where X is the number of the lineup. There are two different ways of numbering - chronological and personal. The first gives two lineups more due to the fact that in 1984 and 1992 the band returned to the Mark 2 lineup. Due to this uncertainty, the band's fans often refer to lineups by the names of the members who were replaced.

The Mark 2 line-up (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Lord, Paice) is considered a "classic" Deep Purple line-up, since it was in this line-up that the group gained worldwide fame and recorded the hard rock classics In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head. Subsequently, this line-up met twice more and recorded a total of 7 studio albums out of 19 released by the group to date.

The full potential of the new line-up was realized at the end of 1969, when Deep Purple began recording a new album. As soon as the group gathered in the studio, Blackmore categorically stated: only the most exciting and dramatic will be included in the new album. The requirement, with which everyone agreed, became the leitmotif of the work. Work on Deep Purple In Rock lasted from September 1969 to April 1970. The release of the album was delayed for several months, until the bankrupt Tetragrammaton was bought out by Warner Brothers, which automatically inherited the Deep Purple contract.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released Live In Concert in the US - a recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra - and called the band to America to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few more gigs in California, Arizona and Texas on August 9, Deep Purple found themselves in yet another conflict: this time on stage at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival. Ritchie Blackmore, not wanting to give up his time on the program to Yes's latecomers, staged a mini stage arson and caused a fire, which resulted in the band being fined and getting virtually nothing for their performance. The rest of August and the beginning of September the band spent on tour in Scandinavia.

The album In Rock was released in September 1970; it climbed to number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and stayed in the top thirty lists for over a year (in the US, rising only to number 143). Management was unable to select a single from the album's material, and the band went into the studio to record something urgently. Created almost spontaneously "Black Night" provided Deep Purple with a second place in the UK Singles Chart and became for some time the hallmark of the group.

In December 1970, a rock opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on a libretto by Tim Rice, "Jesus Christ Superstar", was released, which became a world classic. Ian Gillan performed the title part in the original (studio) version of the album. In 1973, the film "Jesus Christ Superstar" was released, which was distinguished from the original by the arrangements and vocals of Ted Neeley (born Ted Neeley) in the role of Jesus.

Fireball was released in July in the UK and in October in the US. The group held an American tour, and the British part of the tour ended with a grand show at London's Albert Hall, where the invited parents of the musicians were accommodated in the royal box.

Deep Purple agreed with the Rolling Stones to use their mobile studio Mobile, which was supposed to be located near the concert hall "Casino". On the day of the band's arrival, during a performance by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention (where the members of Deep Purple also went), a fire broke out caused by a shot from a rocket launcher sent by someone from the audience into the ceiling. The building burned down, and the band rented an empty Grand Hotel, where they completed work on the record. In fresh footsteps, one of the band's most famous songs, "Smoke On The Water", was created. According to legend, Gillan sketched the text on a napkin, looking out of the window at the surface of the lake, shrouded in smoke, and the headline was suggested by Roger Glover, who allegedly had a nightmare and, upon waking up, repeated “smoke on water, smoke on water.”

The Machine Head album was released in March 1972, climbed to number one in the UK and sold 3 million copies in the US, where the single Smoke On The Water entered the top five on the Billboard.

In July 1972, Deep Purple flew to Rome to record their next studio album (subsequently titled Who Do We Think We Are). All members of the group were morally and psychologically exhausted, the work took place in a nervous atmosphere - also because of the aggravated contradictions between Blackmore and Gillan. On August 9, studio work was interrupted and Deep Purple headed to Japan. Recordings of the concerts held here were included in the Made in Japan album.

"The idea of ​​a live album is to make all the instruments sound as natural as possible, with the energy from the audience, which is able to pull something out of the band that it could never have created in the studio," Blackmore said.

In 1972, Deep Purple went on tour to America five times, and the sixth tour was interrupted due to Blackmore's illness. By the end of the year, in terms of total circulation of records, Deep Purple were declared the most popular group in the world, beating Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

deep purple. 2004

"Chris Curtis, with the blessing of London businessman Tony Edwards, started the Roundabout project. In his opinion, it should have been something like a supergroup, only with a regularly changing line-up (hence the "carousel" name). Chris was the first to sign his neighbor's business according to the rented apartment of the keyboardist "The Artwoods" Jon Lord... The second thing Curtis had in mind was the young guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was not too lazy to fly in to audition from Hamburg. meanwhile, Lord and Blackmore wished to continue the work they had begun and took up the independent solution of the personnel issue. John invited an old acquaintance Nick Simper to the bass, and the microphone and drums were given to people from Maze, Rod Evans and Ian Paice. In parallel, he got up the question of renaming the band, and from several options, the musicians settled on the Blackmore version of "Deep Purple" (that was the name of the guitarist's grandmother's favorite song). Having dealt with the formalities, in May 1968 the quintet went to the studio and in just a couple of days recorded the disc "Shades Of Deep Purple". The team did not yet have a clear course, but one of the guidelines for it was the American band "Vanilla Fudge". Although the disc went unnoticed at home, in the US "Deep Purple" managed to attract attention thanks to the composition "Hush", which they removed from the repertoire of Billy Joe Royal.

Based on the current situation, the second full-length was released first overseas, and only the following year "The Book Of Taliesyn" appeared in British stores. The album, like the first-born, had a progressive touch with quotes from the classics, but in places it sounded heavier. Like last time, the main bet was made on covers, and Neil Diamond's composition "Kentucky Woman", included in the "Billboard Top 40" list, became the leader of the program. The third disc with a modest name "Deep Purple" remained underestimated, although in fact on it the team reached the top of their progressive stage of creativity, as evidenced at least by the monumental epic "April" and the most beautiful Donovanovsky cover of "Lalena". Meanwhile, changes were brewing in the team, and under pressure from the rest of the members, Simper and Evans left the lineup.

Blackmore wanted to get Terry Reed to the post of vocalist, but he preferred to pursue a solo career, and then the lead singer of "Episode Six" Ian Gillan was invited to the microphone. Bass player Roger Glover was borrowed from the same ensemble, and thus the famous Mark II was born. The debut of the classic line-up was the performance of the team with a symphony orchestra on the initiative of John (who was the main energizer of the group at that time). An attempt to cross rock with classics caused conflicting responses, and if anyone became famous for this project, it was Lord himself. Other musicians (especially Blackmore) got stuck with the leadership of the keyboardist, and at the insistence of Ritchie, the band began to play hard guitar hard rock with powerful organ tabs and aggressive vocal delivery. The change in style brought "Deep Purple" to the forefront of the world scene, and the first swallows of triumph were the album "In Rock" and the single "Black Night" that was not included in it. Confused England took the feature to fourth place in the ranking, but the next time the "ashes" found themselves at the very top of the island chart with the "Fireball" program. The culmination of the group's creative success was the masterpiece album "Machine Head", which, in addition to concert favorites such as "Highway Star", "Space Truckin", "Lazy", gave rise to perhaps the loudest imperishable hard rock "Smoke On The Water". A role model for future generations Rockers also served as a double live album "Made In Japan", but by the time the rather successful studio work "Who Do We Think We Are" was released, relations in the team went wrong.

More than others, Gillan and Blackmore clashed, and in the end the matter ended in the resignation of the vocalist. Glover also left, and all power was concentrated in the hands of the guitarist. Roger was replaced by singing bassist Glenn Hughes, and the main microphone went to David Coverdale, who was found on the ad (at that time a clothing seller). The infusion of fresh energy tinted the music of "Deep Purple" in blues and funk tones, and on the disc "Burn" only the track of the same name fit the style of "In Rock" and "Machine Head". I must say, the newcomers quickly got used to the team, and on the album "Stormbringer" the usual hard rock was strongly pushed aside by funk and soul. Feeling that he was no longer the absolute master of the position in the group, Blackmore left his colleagues and left to create "Rainbow".

The blow was strong, but the desire to make money on the promoted trade mark "DP" turned out to be stronger, and American guitarist Tommy Bolin was invited to replace Richie. For his sake, Coverdale and Hughes even moved up in songwriting, but the album "Come Taste The Band" came out relatively dull. At concerts, the public also did not want to recognize the new guitarist, and during the ill-fated British tour, the decision was made to disband the group. For about ten years, the musicians were engaged in other projects, but in 1984, at the initiative of Gillan, the classic line-up got together again and recorded the Perfect Strangers disc. Yearning for "purple" creativity, fans greedily snapped up the album, as a result of which the record was a good success both in terms of circulation and chart positions. The accompanying world tour was also held at a high level, but during the recording of "The House Of Blue Light" relations between Blackmore and Gillan escalated again. After the second resignation of the soloist, his place went to John. Don Airey, who took over the keyboard baton, tried his best to replace his colleague, but he still did not reach the level of the Lord. One way or another, but the 2003 record was received by fans quite warmly, although "Bananas" got a lot for the pop title and cover. Rapture Of The Deep, released a couple of years later, was similarly received, but then the studio affairs were abandoned for a long time. Only in 2012 "Deep Purple" began work on a new album, and in the spring of next year, produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin "Now What?!" went on sale.

Deep Purple is a British rock band. It was founded in 1968 in the English city of Hartford, became the founder of the hard rock genre and in the 70s of the XX century was one of the most influential rock bands.

Below is a brief history of the band and the composition of Deep Purple by year.

Prequel

The one who had the idea to form a band was Chris Curtis, a drummer who had previously played in The Searches. During a difficult period, after leaving the previous team, he met the same wandering soul in the person of John Londa - keyboardist. He also just left The Artwoods. The third member is a guitarist who, before joining the line-up, already had experience behind him and even managed to create his own team, The Three Musketeers.

Initially, the band had a different name - Roundabout.

A fourth and fifth member is soon added: Bobby Woodman (drummer) and Dave Curtiss (bassist).

Curtiss leaves the band and the search for a bassist and vocalist begins.

The gaze falls on the musician Nick Simper, but during rehearsals, the participants and Nick himself realize that he is a bird of a different flight.

A young guy named Rod Evans takes the place of the singer, and Ian Paice is appointed to the role of the new drummer (after another departure, but already Woodman).

The established Deep Purple quintet, with a new name and under the command of manager Tony Edwards, is touring Denmark. Thus began the creative path of the legendary group.

The first composition of "Deep Purple" (1968-1969)

Initially, the team did not have an exact decision in what style they would like to play. But later, a pendulum appeared in front of him in the face of Vanila Fudge (psychedelic rock).

The first major performance fell on April 1968 in Denmark. Despite the agreed new name, the group held a concert under the old nickname. Judging by the reaction of the public, their "stage trial" ended with an incredible success.

The band's debut album titled "Shades of Deep Purple" was recorded in just 2 days. In June of the same year, the song "Hush" was born, which they decided to use as a start. In the United States, the track managed to reach number four.

The second album "The Book of Taliesyn" was less successful. Unlike the US, Britain was not interested in the team. But despite bad luck, the group managed to sign an agreement with the American label Tetragrammaton Records.

In 1969, the third work was recorded, in which the music is more rigid and complex. However, the internal relationship did not stick, which clearly affected the activities of the group (they were booed in the last performance), during which the composition of Deep Purple again undergoes changes.

Second cast (1969 - 1972)

A new track "Hallelujah" is being recorded. Ian Gillan (vocalist) and his duet partner drummer come to the post

A new album called "Concerto for Group Orchestra", created in 1969, provided the group with success, managing to get into the British charts.

Work on the fourth album Deep Purple In Rock began in September of the same year and went until April 67th. The British lists kept the work in the top 30 for a whole year, and the suddenly written track "Black Nigth" even gained calling card status for a while.

The fifth studio album under the nickname "Fireball" is released in July for British listeners and in October - for American ones.

In 1972 they achieved worldwide success with their sixth album "Macine Head", which rose to number 1 in England and sold 3 million copies in the US.

By the end of the same year, the group was declared the most popular in the world - they surpassed the group in popularity.

The seventh work turned out to be less successful for the musicians: in it, according to critics, only two tracks were worthy.

In connection with the aggravated relations between Blackmore and Glover, the latter submits a letter of resignation. Vocalist Gillan left the band at the same time, and the date of their last concert falls on June 1973 in Japan.

Changes again.

Third cast (1973-1974)

Glenn Hughes, a bass player with singing abilities, also takes the place of the vocalist.

In the new line-up, the eighth album "Burn" is born, however, with notes of rhythm and blues (song and dance style, far from hard).

The ninth album "Stormbringer" was weaker than the previous one, perhaps due to differences in genre issues.

Fourth cast (1975 - 1976)

Blackmore is replaced by guitarist Tommy Bolin, who made a big contribution to the tenth album "Come Taste the Band".

After a series of unsuccessful concerts, the participants were divided into 2 parties: some were for the jazz-dance style, while the latter wanted to focus on the hit charts.

In July 1976, the group breaks up.

Fifth cast (1984 - 1989)

1984 - the long-awaited reunion of the classic Deep Purple line-up. The company, which is considered traditional, included Gillan, Lord, Glover, Blackmore and drummer Paice - the only member who has never left his post in the entire history of the group.

New collaboration "Perfect Stranges" climbs to worthy places in the British and American charts.

Sixth cast (1989 - 1992)

Despite the success, the relationship between the participants did not work out, and Joe Turner takes the place of vocalist Gillan.

The next album "Greg Rike Productions" is released, which was not very successful, according to critics.

Seventh line-up (1993-1994)

Between Turner and the rest of the team, communication became more and more tense - they decided to return Gillan to his place.

Album "The Battle Rages On" in 1993 could not ascend to the same place.

After several unsuccessful and excellent concerts, guitarist Blackmore leaves the band.

Eighth composition (1994 - 2002)

Joe Satriani temporarily replaces the former instrumentalist. After successfully completed projects, he is offered to stay on a permanent basis, but he was forced to refuse due to contractual obligations of other contracts.

With new member Steve Morse, the 15th and 16th "Purpendicular" albums with "Abandon" were recorded.

July 23, 1996 - the date of the first concert in Russia for the entire existence of the group. The musicians, in addition to the main program, performed Mussorgsky's brilliant cycle "Pictures at an Exhibition".

Ninth cast (2002 - present)

Keyboardist Lord makes a choice in the direction of solo activities, and pianist Don Airey takes his place.

The new composition of "Deep Purple" releases for the first time in the last 5 years the 17th album "Bananas", which the audience is satisfied with.

In 2005, 2 more studio works were born - "Rapture on the Deep" and "Rapture on the Deep tour".

Project "Now What?!" 2013 is produced even in Russia for their 45th anniversary.

In 2017, the last, 20th album, "Infinity", is created. The group intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary with a farewell tour and retire.

The reason for this decision, according to Pace, is the obvious difference between the group with a young line-up, once everyone was 21 years old, and now they are already eighty.

Merits

Deep Purple, despite its regular volatility, has been able to create 20 studio works, hold hundreds of concerts and take their honorable and well-deserved place in the Hall of Fame.