The 1970s pop group Ritchie Blackmore called as good as The Beatles: “It was fantastic”

Ritchie Blackmore, the guitarist best known for his work with Deep Purple and Rainbow, has surprised fans by naming ABBA as his all-time favourite band, comparing the Swedish pop group's songwriting to that of The Beatles' Lennon and McCartney. The remark stands out because Blackmore's own musical influences are usually traced to heavier and more classically inflected sources, such as Mountain's dense, powerful sound and Jimi Hendrix's guitar work, making his admiration for ABBA's polished pop melodies something of a departure.

Speaking during an online Q&A, Blackmore admitted he knew the answer was "uncool" but insisted on his honesty, praising ABBA's music as "melodic" and saying "it just worked. It was fantastic." He went further when asked about the best composers of the 20th century, ranking ABBA's songwriters alongside Lennon and McCartney. Elsewhere in the interview, he described how hearing Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" in a German club with drummer Ian Paice left them both stunned by its heaviness, and explained that his own track "Speed King" drew on Hendrix's "Stone Free" and "Fire".