Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is suing two managemenet companies over claims that he is owed £750,000 in unpaid publishing royalties and legal costs.
The Daily Mail reports Blackmore is claiming that a 2003 lawsuit brought by the lineup of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice against two management companies – HEC Enterprises and Deep Purple (Overseas) – should have included him and that he should be compensated as part of the settlement reached between the parties.
Blackmore claims he is entitled to receive one fifth of up to 85 per cent of the income from 14 of the band’s classic albums after he hired an audit by a specialist accountant covering the years between 2007 and 2013, which showed ‘very substantial’ under-accounting by both management companies.
According to the documents, a former director of both management companies admitted last November that £370,561 was due to Blackmore, and later revised this upwards to £480,638.
Blackmore famously split with Deep Purple in 1975 when he left to form Rainbow; the guitarist returned in 1984 for the “Perfect Strangers” project and exited again in 1993.
The current lineup of Deep Purple – without Blackmore – will launch a summer tour of North America in Lewiston, NJ on July 14.
See also:
Deep Purple to release two live albums
Deep Purple announce North American tour
Deep Purple drummer giving free lessons for UK’s Learn To Play Day
Whitesnake singer revisits Deep Purple with The Purple Album
Search Deep Purple at hennemusic
