Roger Glover has hailed former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore as the man who inspired some of the best heavy metal acts of all time.
Bassist Glover says that founding Purple member Blackmore – who last played with the group in 1993 – was someone who bands in the “second wave of rock” learned from.
Glover tells Goldmine: “Ritchie was an amazing guitarist, way ahead of his time. And I think that informed a lot of the heavy metal players later on. The second wave of rock, if you like. The Judas Priests and the Saxons and so on. It still goes on. Purple was the stone thrown into the pond and the ripples are still moving out.
“Purple started out as five people and what branched out from Purple is almost a history of rock in itself. There are so many bands whose influences come that from the early 70s Purple. Ritchie in particular.”
Blackmore recently announced a string of “rock” shows for 2016 under the banner of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow And Friends – his first such gigs since 1997. A show in Birmingham is included in the run.
