Ritchie Blackmore performs with Deep Purple for first time in 33 years
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore took the stage with Deep Purple for the first time in more than three decades on Wednesday night, August 12, during the band’s concert at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York. The 81-year-old musician, who left the band in 1993, came out toward the end of the main set to perform the classic “Smoke on the Water.”
Following the performance, singer Ian Gillan addressed the crowd, saying he had received a message days earlier from a “local lad” who lived nearby asking if he could come jam with the band. Gillan called Blackmore “the founder member, the great legend” and thanked him for the appearance. Blackmore himself had proposed the idea, reaching out to Gillan, who lives in Portugal, to ask about joining the band “for old times' sake.” The guitarist walked out with his yellow Fender Stratocaster to cheers from the crowd, and Deep Purple later posted photos from the reunion on Instagram.
