{"id":297247,"date":"2025-11-17T15:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/297247\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:01:08","slug":"ian-gillan-considers-deep-purple-retirement-over-health-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/297247\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Gillan Considers Deep Purple Retirement Over Health Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Gillan<\/a>‘s says growing vision problems could mean retirement from Deep Purple<\/a> is “not far off.” <\/p>\n

Now 80, Gillan is still performing with the group he joined in 1969, completing a huge tour<\/a> late last year before playing a series of one-off shows in 2025. <\/p>\n

As for his failing eyesight, Gillan said: “It’s one of those things. I’ve only got 30 percent vision,” he told Uncut<\/a>. “That won\u2019t get better. It makes life mysterious. The hardest thing is working on my laptop. I can’t see anything on the screen unless I use my peripheral vision; I pick up a line by looking at it sideways. But you find a way. You adapt.”<\/p>\n

When Did Ian Gillan Join Deep Purple?<\/p>\n

Gillan was part of the pre-Deep Purple band Episode Six with stalwart bassist Roger Glover<\/a>. They then took over for Rod Evans and Nick Simper in Deep Purple. Gillan’s initial tenure lasted until 1973. He fronted the group again from 1984-89 before returning for a current stint that began in 1992.<\/p>\n

“It’s hilarious this growing old thing. It’s a laugh a minute,” Gillan joked. “Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. I walk down the road and hear something drop off \u2013 clang, there’s something else gone. Nothing’s changed really apart from I can’t pole vault any more. Other than that, things move a little more slowly. But nothing’s changed.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Top 10 Deep Purple Songs<\/a><\/p>\n

This news arrives just days after the retirement<\/a> of David Coverdale<\/a>, who replaced Gillan in Deep Purple before becoming Whitesnake<\/a>‘s longtime frontman. Coverdale thanked “everyone who’s assisted and supported me on this incredible journey,” but added that “it really is time for me to just enjoy my retirement.”<\/p>\n

Despite Gillan’s health problems, Deep Purple has already confirmed a European tour<\/a> for next summer. “I think if I lose my energy, I’m going to stop,” Gillan added. “I don’t want to be an embarrassment to anyone. We’re not far off that. It creeps up on you; you don’t really notice.”<\/p>\n

30 Bands With One Original Member Left<\/p>\n

It’s down to the last man standing in these groups.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp<\/p>\n

Jon Lord and Ian Paice Were in One of Rock\u2019s Forgotten Supergroups<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Gillan‘s says growing vision problems could mean retirement from Deep Purple is “not far off.” Now 80,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,3],"class_list":{"0":"post-297247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}