Ritchie Blackmore to reunite with Deep Purple for the first time in over 30 years

Music News Group2 hours ago

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Ritchie Blackmore of the British band Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow performs live on stage during a concert at the Velodrom on April 18, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Frank Hoensch/Redferns)

Ritchie Blackmore is set to reunite with Deep Purple for the first time in over 30 years.

The rocker revealed the news in an Instagram Live stream Tuesday, sharing that he plans to come out during the encore of Deep Purple’s concert at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, Wednesday night.

“You know, there is something we wanted to mention about tomorrow night. … Well, it is a secret and I don’t want anybody to know, but I’m probably (going to) get up and do an encore with the band, Deep Purple,” Blackmore said. “But you can’t tell anybody, and I know that this is gonna be kept a secret. And will it? I suppose so.”

Blackmore went on to say that he was the one who reached out to frontman Ian Gillan, asking him how he’d feel if he joined them for an encore for “old times’ sake.”

“He seemed to love the idea,” Blackmore said, noting the rest of the band also gave it a thumbs-up.

“It’ll be good to see the old guys again,” the 81-year-old Blackmore said, before joking, “I think we’ll all be on crutches and wheelchairs and things, although I think the rest of them are OK.”

Blackmore was one of the co-founders of Deep Purple in 1968, then left the group in 1975 to form his band Rainbow. He was part of Deep Purple’s 1984 reunion and last played with them in 1993.

Deep Purple is on a North American tour in support of their latest album, SPLAT! The tour runs through Sept. 12 in Sparks, Nevada. A complete list of dates can be found at DeepPurple.com.