Ritchie Blackmore has returned to the stage with Deep Purple. The 81-year old guitarist, who co-founded the band in 1968, joined them onstage at the 15,000-capacity Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York.
Blackmore hadn't played with the band since departing under acrimonious circumstances after a show in Helsinki, Finland, in November 1993, and his relationship with frontman Ian Gillan has remained frosty.
However, earlier this week, during an Instagram Live post, Blackmore revealed that he had reached out to Gillan to ask if he could appear at the show in Wantagh, a short drive from his home on Long Island.
"I sent my A.I. pigeon to Ian Gillan in Portugal, where he lives at the moment," said Blackmore (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). And I said, How would you feel about if I got up just for an encore? Just one of the songs. I don't want to intrude. And I said, No pressure - just kind of [for] old times' sake.' I'm 81 now. So he seemed to love the idea, put it to the band, got a thumbs up, and it looks like we might be doing that."
And now they have. Blackmore joined Deep Purple onstage at the climax of a 100-minute set to perform Smoke On The Water, a song powered by his most famous riff. After the song, Gillan told the story of Blackmore reaching out before introducing him.
"It was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founder member, the great legend, the immortal... Ritchie Blackmore!", says Gillan. "It was a great pleasure. I'll see you in the bar."
Meanwhile, Blackmore's partner, Candice Night, shared a photo of the six musicians huddled backstage, saying, "Well, this warms my heart."
The next show on Deep Purple's Splat! tour, which arrives in Europe in late September, takes place August 13 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA. Full dates below.
well, this warms my heart... pic.twitter.com/2nArOmSihzAugust 13, 2026
Deep Purple: Splat! Tour 2026
Aug 13: Mansfield Xfinity Center, MA
Aug 15: Halifax Scotiabank Centre, NS
Aug 17: Laval Place Bell, QC
Aug 18: Toronto RBC Amphitheatre, ON
Aug 19: Ottawa Canadian Tire Center, ON
Aug 21: Detroit Pine Knob, MI
Aug 22: Salamanca Seneca Allegany Casino, NY
Aug 24: Indianapolis Everwise Amphitheatre, IN
Aug 25: Highland Park Ravinia, IL
Aug 27: Prior Lake Mystic Lake Casino, MN
Aug 29: Winnipeg Canada Life Centre, MB
Aug 31: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Sep 02: Abbotsford Abbotsford Centre, BC
Sep 04: Lincoln Thunder Valley, CA
Sep 05: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 06: Highland Yaamava Theatre, CA
Sep 08: Chula Vista North Island Credit Union Amp, CA
Sep 10: Las Vegas Planet Hollywood, NV
Sep 11: Long Beach Long Beach Amphitheater, CA
Sep 12: Sparks Nugget Event Center, NV
Sep 29: Sofia 8888 Arena, Bulgaria
Oct 01: Cluj BT Arena, Romania
Oct 02: Budapest Laszlo Papp Arena, Hungary
Oct 04: Bratislava Tipos Arena, Slovakia
Oct 05: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
Oct 07: Prague O2 Arena, Czechia
Oct 08: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
Oct 10: Belgrade Stark Arena, Serbia
Oct 11: Skopje Boris Trajkovski Arena, Macedonia
Oct 13: Athens Telekom Centre Arena, Greece
Oct 16: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Oct 17: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy
Oct 19: Barcelona Sant Jordi Club, Spain
Oct 22: Paris Adidas Arena, France
Oct 23: Antwerp Lotto Arena, Belgium
Oct 25: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Oct 26: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Oct 28: Oslo Spektrum Arena, Norway
Oct 29: Gothenburg Scandinavium, Sweden
Oct 31: Leipzig QI Arena, Germany
Nov 01: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Nov 03: Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
Nov 04: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Nov 06: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Nov 07: Nuremberg Arena, Germany
Nov 09: Amsterdam Ziggodome, Netherlands
Nov 10: Strasbourg Zenith, France
Nov 12: Bordeaux Arkéa Arena, France
Nov 13: Nantes Zenith, France
Nov 15: Lyon LDLC Arena, France
Nov 18: Newcastle Utilita Arena, UK
Nov 19: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Nov 21: Birmingham BP Pulse Arena, UK
Nov 22: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Nov 24: London Eventim Apollo, UK
Nov 25: London Royal Albert Hall, UK
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