Ritchie Blackmore has made his first public comments on Deep Purple’s induction into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony in New York on April 8.
The band were honored at the event alongside fellow inductees Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Chicago and N.W.A.
The Rock Hall chose to induct most of Deep Purple’s first three lineups, including Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Rod Evans, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.
Blackmore did not attend the ceremony following word that the present day lineup of the group refused to perform with former members at the event.
"Obviously, as you know from the post here,” wrote Blackmore on his Facebook page, “I have my reason for not attending the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, although I appreciate the award. However, I do think that they should've given an award to Joe Lynn Turner for when he was in Deep Purple for his singing and writing on ‘Slaves And Masters’ – a great record, one of my favorites."
Former Rainbow singer Turner stepped in as frontman for Deep Purple and the 1990 album after longtime vocalist Ian Gillan was fired in 1989; Turner remained in the lineup until August of 1992, when Gillan returned to the group in time for their 25th anniversary tour in 1993.
Metallica drummer and hardcore fan Lars Ulrich delivered the induction speech, which was followed by comments from the inductees.
The current Deep Purple lineup – including non-inductees Steve Morse and Don Airey – performed a mini-set featuring “Highway Star”, a snippet of Booker T. & the M.G.'s “Green Onions”, their Billy Joe Royal cover of “Hush”, and “Smoke On The Water.”
Glover, Coverdale and Hughes joined the all-star jam at the end of the evening following the night’s final inductees Cheap Trick.
Deep Purple will perform a Japanese tour next month before playing dates in Russia in June and across Europe over the summer.
Blackmore will make a rare return to the rock stage with a newly-revamped Rainbow with three concerts in June.
See also:
VIDEO: Deep Purple inducted into 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
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