{"id":772431,"date":"2026-09-16T11:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/772431\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T11:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:04:23","slug":"ian-gillan-on-ritchie-blackmores-recent-deep-purple-cameo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/772431\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Gillan on Ritchie Blackmore’s recent Deep Purple cameo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Gillan has spoken to Classic Rock about Ritchie Blackmore<\/a>‘s unexpected cameo performance<\/a> with Deep Purple<\/a> at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really surprised it happened,\u201d Gillan says. \u201cI\u2019ve been in touch with Ritchie for quite a long time now, and we\u2019re on very good terms. All the nonsense from the past is now water under the bridge. We\u2019re getting on great. So as we were in the area, I wasn\u2019t that surprised [to see him], but I was very pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Blackmore had last shared a stage with Purple way back in November 1993, in Helsinki, during promotion for their aptly titled studio album The Battle Rages On. Bitterness and recrimination from both sides followed the guitarist\u2019s mid-tour resignation, and any number of examples would serve to back up the theory that this was a wound \u2013 primarily between Blackmore and singer Ian Gillan \u2013 that was never going to heal.<\/p>\n

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We were wrong. A couple of days before the Jones Beach concert, Gillan had received a message from his former b\u00eate noire: \u201cIt said: \u2018I only live around the corner. Do you mind if I come and jam with you?\u2019\u201d Gillan informed the audience in Wantagh, to massive cheers.<\/p>\n

The request actually asked: \u201cHow would you feel about it if I got up just for an encore? Just one of the songs. I don\u2019t want to intrude. No pressure, just for old times\u2019 sake.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After Purple happily accepted the olive branch in the spirit it had been offered, Blackmore divulged the plan \u2013 to the incredulity of the rock world \u2013 via his social media pages. Following the thirteenth song of the night\u2019s set at Jones Beach, Space Truckin\u2019, the stage went quiet as roadies scurried around with torches. The audience went wild when current Purple guitarist Simon McBride<\/a> enticed Ritchie onto the stage.<\/p>\n

The Man In Black placed his hat on top of the amps and, at first unaccompanied, delivered the most famous rock riff of all time. Six minutes later it was all over. It was probably not the best version of Smoke On The Water<\/a> that Purple ever played, but as the smiles on stage and off confirmed, few are likely to have been more emotional.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founder member, the great legend, the immortal Ritchie Blackmore,\u201d Gillan told the still-disbelieving audience. \u201cThanks, Ritchie. I must say it was a great pleasure. I\u2019ll see you in the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who bought the first round in the bar?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I brought along a bottle of whisky and had a couple of drinks for the first time in years at the venue,\u201d Gillan revealed.<\/p>\n

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Was there time to talk?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. We had about half an hour. But we\u2019ve been in touch, as I said earlier, for some time now. Having said that, it was nice doing it face to face. And I\u2019ll probably see Ritchie again next time I\u2019m in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as delighting rock fans, presumably the on-stage reunion brought closure.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the public, probably yes,\u201d Gillan responded. \u201cBut as far as I\u2019m concerned, the closure was years ago, so I hadn\u2019t even thought about it. But definitely it was a public demonstration of friendship, and good memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

The million-dollar question, of course, is whether something similar could ever happen again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Gillan admitted. \u201cThe reason we did it there was because Ritchie only lives around the corner. So, I don\u2019t know. If we play Jones Beach or New York again, possibly. Ritchie lives on Long Island but he\u2019s always welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following day, Blackmore wrote on social media: \u201cA good night was had by all, I hope. I know that I had a great time. Thanks a lot, lads. Carry on and have a good tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a moving experience because I went on very quickly and had to play immediately,\u201d Blackmore later told Guitar Player<\/a>. \u201cI couldn\u2019t warm up, but I wasn\u2019t there to play correct notes. I was there to see old friends I hadn\u2019t seen in forty years, and we\u2019re all getting older. I think we realised it could be the last time we see each other, maybe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tricky. I didn\u2019t play anything too technical, as I felt I should stick to the rudiments of being simple,\u201d the 81-year-old added. \u201cI still lost my place at one point, but it\u2019s not why I was there. I was there to heal any wounds \u2013 but there weren\u2019t any wounds. Everyone was like we were in the army all along the Western Front, and we were all getting together again. [It was a] very emotional moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Gillan has spoken to Classic Rock about Ritchie Blackmore‘s unexpected cameo performance with Deep Purple at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-772431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}