Simon McBride Defends Ritchie Blackmore's Playing of 'Smoke' at Purple Reunion as He Admits Praise From Blackmore Came as a 'Shock': 'People Should Look at It for What It Was: a Magical Night' - Ultimate Guitar

Simon McBride Defends Ritchie Blackmore's Playing of 'Smoke' at Purple Reunion as He Admits Praise From Blackmore Came as a 'Shock': 'People Should Look at It for What It Was: a Magical Night' – Ultimate Guitar

August 19, 2026

Simon McBride Defends Ritchie Blackmore’s Playing of ‘Smoke’ at Purple Reunion as He Admits Praise From Blackmore Came as a ‘Shock’: ‘People Should Look at It for What It Was: a Magical Night’ Ultimate GuitarEXCLUSIVE: Ritchie Blackmore reveals the story behind his emotional Deep Purple reunion. “I think we realized it could be the last time we see each other” Guitar Player“I wasn’t there to play correct notes. I was there to see old friends”: Ritchie Blackmore opens up on his Deep Purple reunion performance Guitar WorldThe guitar genius of Ritchie Blackmore in 5 classic tracks MusicRadarDeep Purple guitarist Simon McBride on sharing the stage with Ritchie Blackmore – and the reunion nobody thought would happen Yahoo