Former Deep Purple bassist and singer Glenn Hughes has slammed the band's three longest-standing members, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice. In a new interview with Guitar Interactive Magazine, Hughes is asked about his memories of Purple's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016, and he doesn't hold back.
"I will never speak to any of them again, simply because they were rude," says Hughes. "Both Roger, Ian and Gillan were rude to David [Coverdale] and I. Very, very hurtful. I didn't give a fuck, actually, because I knew they were rude to begin with.
"I was the only sober man there. I don't care about those guys. Gillan was rude to me on stage, accepting the award. I went to congratulate him. He looked at me in the eyes like I didn't exist. The guy has a problem with me, period. I'll let him run with it. I feel bad for him. I'm really sorry about his wife [Gillan's wife of 40 years, Bron, died in 2022]. I've tried to reach out to him. He doesn't want to know."
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Hughes then reveals that he's been attempting to kindle a friendship with Gillan for several decades, but the relationship remains distant.
"I've tried to make some kind of friendship with him over the last 40 years," he says. "He doesn't want to know. David Coverdale and I don't exist to him. I wish him only the very best, but I have no time left for that behaviour."
Both men have been members of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, although not at the same time.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hughes talks about the new Black Country Communion album V, his stint with the Dead Daisies, the short-lived California Breed project, working with Gary Moore, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi and the KLF, and much more. The full interview is below.
