Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow has announced its third and final show of 2016.
The guitarist will perform the Best of Rainbow and Deep Purple in a headline date at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, UK on June 25.
The UK date follows news that Blackmore will perform at a pair of Monsters Of Rock festivals in Germany next June, as a he makes a rare return to rock after years as the leader of Blackmore’s Night, a medieval folk band he formed in 1997 with then-girlfriend and now-wife Candice Night.
Blackmore and crew will perform sets at the Monsters Of Rock events in Loreley, Germany on June 17 and in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany on June 18.
Tickets for all three shows will go on sale November 6.
“I'm doing it for the fans, for nostalgia, and the singer I found is very exciting,” says Blackmore. “He's a cross between Ronnie James Dio meets Freddie Mercury. So this will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I'm sure he'll become pretty famous because of his voice."
The guitarist left Deep Purple in 1975 to form Rainbow, who went on to issue 8 albums.
Blackmore returned for a reunion of the Mk II lineup of Deep Purple in 1984 and, after three albums and some lineup changes, he exited the group for good in 1993.
See also:
Ritchie Blackmore to play 2016 rock show in the UK
Ritchie Blackmore confirms second Best Of Rainbow & Deep Purple show
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