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Ritchie Blackmore Set to Play With Deep Purple After 33 Year-Estrangement
Developed over time first seen 3 months ago
Ritchie Blackmore is set to make a one-song encore appearance with Deep Purple at their Jones Beach show in New York, ending a 33-year absence from the band’s live stage. The planned reunion is significant because Blackmore is the group’s founding guitarist and a key writer of its best-known songs, while previous prospects of him rejoining had repeatedly been ruled out.
Blackmore said he contacted singer Ian Gillan, who took the proposal to the rest of the band and received approval. He left Deep Purple amid tensions in 1993, and did not join the group at its 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction; since then, Steve Morse and later Simon McBride have filled the guitarist role.
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In short
- Blackmore plans a one-song Deep Purple encore.
- It would end 33 years apart.
- The band approved the proposed appearance.
How this story developed
- 3 months ago Ritchie Blackmore says he plans to join Deep Purple for an encore at their Jones Beach show, marking his first live appearance with the band since leaving in 1993.
- 3 months ago Ritchie Blackmore is set to make a one-song encore appearance with Deep Purple at their Jones Beach show in New York, ending a 33-year absence from the band’s live stage.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
This represents meaningful reconciliation between Deep Purple's founding guitarist and the band he helped establish. Blackmore's one-song appearance honours the group's original creative vision, affording fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the complete original lineup behind their greatest works.
The case against
The 33-year estrangement and Blackmore's absence from the 2016 Hall of Fame ceremony suggest the underlying tensions remain fundamentally unresolved. Reuniting risks recreating the very conflict that separated them decades ago, whilst potentially overshadowing the guitarists who have loyally maintained the band throughout those intervening years, reducing their substantial contributions to mere stewardship of another artist's legacy.
Explained simply
Deep Purple are a British rock band formed in the late 1960s and are widely associated with the development of hard rock. Their best-known line-up included guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, singer Ian Gillan, keyboard player Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice, and produced songs such as “Smoke on the Water”.
Blackmore was a founding member and a major songwriter, known for a guitar style that combined rock with classical influences. He left the band more than once, with his final departure coming during a difficult 1993 tour, after which Deep Purple continued with other guitarists.
The band has changed members several times over the decades but has remained an active touring act. Relations between Blackmore and some former bandmates were long seen as strained, making any shared appearance significant for the group’s history and for fans of its classic era.