Deep Purple

Roundabout

Deep Purple formed in London in 1968. Chris Curtis, formerly of the Searchers, had conceived the project as Roundabout in 1967 and then left. The businessman Tony Edwards financed it, and the first recruit was the organist Jon Lord, followed by the guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was brought over from Hamburg, and the bassist Nick Simper. Singer Rod Evans and drummer Ian Paice completed the line-up, which rehearsed at Deeves Hall in Hertfordshire from March 1968. In April Blackmore suggested the name Deep Purple, after his grandmother's favourite song.

The first album, Shades of Deep Purple, was recorded in May 1968 and came out in the United States that July on Tetragrammaton. Its single Hush, a cover, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 that September, and the band toured America supporting Cream. Tetragrammaton went bankrupt in 1969 and Warner Bros took over their US releases. In the summer of 1969 Evans and Simper were dismissed, and Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, both from Episode Six, replaced them. The new line-up, later called Mark II, played its first show at the Speakeasy Club in London on 10 July 1969.

Mark II

On 24 September 1969 the band played Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic, conducted by Malcolm Arnold. The album that followed was a reaction to it. Deep Purple in Rock, released in June 1970, was the first record the band produced themselves. Blackmore said he wanted to try being really heavy after hearing Led Zeppelin's debut. It reached number four in Britain but only 143 in the United States. The single Black Night went to number two in Britain, and Child in Time became a fixture of their concerts.

Fireball reached number one in Britain in 1971. In December of that year the band went to Montreux to record with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. The casino they had planned to use burned down during a Frank Zappa concert, and the fire gave the band the story behind Smoke on the Water. Machine Head, which also holds Highway Star and Space Truckin', came out in March 1972 and went to number one in Britain. Its American chart run took off in 1973, after the Smoke on the Water single reached number four.

In August 1972 the band toured Japan, and the recordings became Made in Japan, a double live album that reached number six in the United States. The 1975 Guinness Book of Records named them the globe's loudest band for a 1972 concert at the Rainbow Theatre. A new studio album, Who Do We Think We Are, appeared in January 1973. After a Japan tour that summer Gillan quit and Glover was dismissed.

Coverdale, Hughes and Bolin

David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals joined in 1973 to form Mark III. Their first album, Burn, was released in February 1974 and reached number three in Britain and the top ten in the United States. The band headlined California Jam in Ontario, California, on 6 April 1974, before a crowd of more than 300,000.

Blackmore told the band in March 1975 that he was leaving, and the announcement came that June. He formed Rainbow. Tommy Bolin took over on guitar for Come Taste the Band in October 1975. The last show of the tour was at the Liverpool Empire on 15 March 1976, and the split was announced in July 1976. Bolin died on 4 December 1976, aged 25.

Reunions

The Mark II line-up reunited in April 1984. Perfect Strangers was recorded that summer in Stowe, Vermont, and released in October, and the band headlined Knebworth in June 1985. Joe Lynn Turner replaced Gillan for one album, Slaves and Masters, in 1990. Gillan returned, Blackmore left for good in November 1993, and Steve Morse joined in August 1994. Jon Lord retired in 2002 and Don Airey took his place. Lord died on 16 July 2012, aged 71.

The band kept making records, among them Now What?! in 2013, Infinite in 2017 and Whoosh! in 2020. Morse left in July 2022 and Simon McBride became an official member that September; their album =1 appeared in 2024 with Bob Ezrin producing. Deep Purple were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 8 April 2016. Iron Maiden's Steve Harris, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and Lars Ulrich are among the musicians who have cited them, and the band claims sales of more than 100 million records.