<![CDATA[ Latest from Guitar Player in Deep-purple ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/tag/deep-purple Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:36:53 +0000 en <![CDATA[ “He needed to drink to socialize.” Ritchie Blackmore on his backstage encounters with Eddie Van Halen ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-onhis-backstage-encoutners-with-eddie-van-halen g92ftbi2QHmxBXEqWtpVYW Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:36:53 +0000 Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:08:02 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He was such a nice guy, I couldn't believe he was a guitarist!” Ritchie Blackmore claims “most guitar players aren't nice people” and names the one exception ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-most-guitarists-arent-nice-people 6VX6BgJHxqsX3ttDCrCiWG Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:12:14 +0000 Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:18:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It hit me more than I thought it would.” Ritchie Blackmore on the one musician he was closest to — and what drove a wedge between them ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-on-jon-lord qyPb34JWXTUr7rrvB9fp25 Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:54:32 +0000 Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:55:01 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I work all day.” Steve Morse spends his days fixing tractors and flying planes — and says it makes him more creative ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-morse-student-of-everything QiKbGcw3JGe7smz5GQKpWi Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:35:44 +0000 <![CDATA[ “An owl meeting a bumblebee in mid-flight.” Ritchie Blackmore on crafting the perfect Deep Purple–era guitar tone ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-on-jim-marshall-leo-fender-and-his-perfect-guitar-tone rD6vk9hBz3SVFE4ck8fvve Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:17:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I think the band's happier the way they are.” Steve Morse says “a couple of guys in Deep Purple” were glad to see him go ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-morse-says-several-members-of-deep-purple-were-glad-he-left-the-group bvrh3dbyaZeHA8nyoYCWuQ Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:12:57 +0000 <![CDATA[ “When he was around, he would hear something and say, ‘That’s a little bit leftfield, but what if we do this?’” Steve Morse says 95 percent of his ideas for Deep Purple were dismissed, but he found a kindred spirit in one member ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-morse-on-writing-with-deep-purple-and-jon-lord TT9jvpZBm9gu27Vb7UeJu4 Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:08:46 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It made much more sense than Chuck Berry playing ‘Sweet Little Sixteen.’” Did this novelty act inspire the greatest guitar riff of all time? Ritchie Blackmore on the band that made “Smoke on the Water” possible ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/the-gimmick-band-that-inspired-a-teenage-ritchie-blackmore-to-meld-rock-with-classical bVftNDbV9VepkDuJ38K8b7 Fri, 28 Nov 2025 13:57:31 +0000 Sat, 29 Nov 2025 00:34:35 +0000 <![CDATA[ “Turn it off, hit the note, and turn it on.” Steve Morse reveals the secret to his wah-like tone knob technique. Now try it yourself ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-morse-reveals-the-secrets-to-his-wah-like-tone-knob-technique FL5bMWcsfK9hMdSAjGXrhc Tue, 18 Nov 2025 18:36:17 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He was beyond belief. Nobody could play like that in those days.” Queen’s Brian May on the “fireball” guitarist who affected him like no other ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/brian-may-on-the-fireball-guitarist-ritchie-blackmore QTQS2WgsAwnEtAmvpBUg4L Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:01:50 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I broke my wrist right before a Deep Purple show and couldn’t reach the notes with the cast on. So I got the grinder out.” Steve Morse on the ingenious mod he made to his guitar so the show could go on ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-morses-broken-wrist-guitar-mod-with-deep-purple drFWWhTqbjt2w8Dpru5GY7 Mon, 03 Nov 2025 13:09:23 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It was more what Ritchie wanted to do. The rest of us grumbled and moaned. But we did it.” Ritchie Blackmore decapitated Deep Purple. With Rainbow, he had another tactic at his disposal ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/why-ritchie-blackmore-was-the-leader-in-rainbow pqWUiEuKCRAbiQmVUyBi9h Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:50:26 +0000 <![CDATA[ “We still respected each other, but we never got on. We just couldn't be in the same room.” Ritchie Blackmore on why Deep Purple couldn't survive with him and Ian Gillan onboard ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-on-the-end-of-the-deep-purple-mark-ii-line-up wgqQ8uaf8ohE7neHdwoJq9 Tue, 30 Sep 2025 21:29:21 +0000 <![CDATA[ "The police were banging on the door. The roadies held them shut until we’d finished the take." Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover and Ian Paice on the creation and legacy of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/music/albums-singles/deep-purple-on-the-writing-and-legacy-of-smoke-on-the-water FqvreWDnTMf3sjJ5iGb5bd Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:15:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ "Why can't we have more Django Reinhardts going, 'F*** everybody. I'll turn up when I feel like turning up'?" Happy birthday to Ritchie Blackmore. The guitar legend looks back on his career in an interview from our December 1996 issue ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-looks-back-at-his-career-in-1996 BDQmfvFH6BKFnptUoBHjG7 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 15:27:31 +0000 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 15:31:55 +0000 <![CDATA[ "When they left town, I went to the airport and got to meet Ritchie, and he thanked me for covering for him." Christopher Cross recalls filling in for a sick Ritchie Blackmore on Deep Purple's first-ever show in the U.S. ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/music/christopher-cross-filled-in-for-a-sick-ritchie-blackmore FFBEbvmjdvAwcNW9Xg58Po Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:47:15 +0000 <![CDATA[ "Ritchiehas actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane." Ritchie Blackmore suffered a heart attack a year and a half year ago and has been warned not to travel by air ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/ritchie-blackmore-heart-attack kFyweU98rP5S9iQJvGsaNa Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:48:33 +0000 <![CDATA[ “When I play a solo, the best score I can get is 75 percent. I got to a point where I accepted that.” Steve Morse on how to keep your cool when the going gets tough ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/advice-tips/steve-morse-guitar-advice-for-a-lifetime-of-playing N3QhtEk7bY7thaswt5qLuJ Wed, 15 Jan 2025 13:59:38 +0000 Wed, 15 Jan 2025 20:22:28 +0000 <![CDATA[ “After a half hour sales pitch, he said, 'Forget the Gretsch! That's a toy. You'll appreciate the Gibson 335 much more later in life.' ” Ritchie Blackmore tells how amp-maker Jim Marshall sold him the guitar he used to launch Deep Purple ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/ritchie-blackmore-jim-marshall-es-335 uXaW962e5dMU5KCNcWnkSN Thu, 31 Oct 2024 19:50:06 +0000 Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:42:18 +0000 <![CDATA[ "They sort of appear as if they are out there in the air. The best ones do. But I don’t know how they get there." David Gilmour talks soloing in Guitar Player's guide to the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time gviGFZB7g47jARwMjHQS8g Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:09:56 +0000 Tue, 23 Sep 2025 10:24:52 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He said to me very politely, 'Can I get onstage with you and use your guitar?' ” Ritchie Blackmore recalls when Deep Purple jammed with George Harrison — and how he marveled at the size of his feet ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/ritchie-blackmore-george-harrison-jam-australia-1984 XoRewgXy5SPn5E45tSESt9 Thu, 10 Oct 2024 18:47:03 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:10:13 +0000 <![CDATA[ “There's a lot of chromatic stuff, and slides in a very tight space, within three or four frets”: Deep Purple guitarist Simon McBride reveals the Ritchie Blackmore lick that's given him the most trouble ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/simon-mcbride-hardest-ritchie-blackmore-lick yAZqTBvcRPLW2FzGFAY5vL Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:20:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It burned all through the night and there it was, gone”: Watch Deep Purple give a very literal performance of Smoke on the Water atop a burning Lake Geneva ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/deep-purple-smoke-on-the-water-lake-geneva dLJmjrz2zf9asnebaoHZRC Wed, 10 Jul 2024 20:51:13 +0000 <![CDATA[ “The chord progression in the Highway Star solo – Bm, to a Db, C, and then G – is a Bach progression”: Ritchie Blackmore on Steve Howe, Jimi Hendrix, classical influences and more ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/ritchie-blackmore-1973-interview spdZQyavmq8s88UNi8qv4c Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:10:18 +0000 <![CDATA[ "I was playing the wrong key and everything, but it didn't seem to matter": Watch George Harrison play a Little Richard classic with Deep Purple in 1984 ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/george-harrison-little-richard-deep-purple kjKMauYCjXE7smKmzXDSNh Tue, 05 Dec 2023 22:26:31 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It’s About Having Teeth”: Simon McBride Explains How to Get a Kick-Ass Hard-Rock Guitar Sound in an Arena ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/simon-mcbride-deep-purple-guitar-tone EMJC2WebFnGioYdobLvwy3 Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:11:08 +0000 <![CDATA[ Think You Know How to Play “Smoke on the Water” Properly? You Could Be Playing It Wrong. Deep Purple Guitarist Simon McBride Reveals the Secrets of This Iconic Riff ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/simon-mcbride-deep-purple-smoke-on-the-water-riff TbQ8xyd38orsyukWkpowMS Wed, 30 Aug 2023 11:43:10 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Best Guitar Moments of 1972 ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/the-best-guitar-moments-of-1972 5TQE9E3iu9Ri79wgXwpKX9 Thu, 24 Nov 2022 15:05:13 +0000 <![CDATA[ Deep Purple Guitarist Simon McBride Shares His Mesmerizing Guitar Approaches ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/deep-purple-guitarist-simon-mcbride-shares-his-mesmerizing-guitar-approaches wWUQCyNR4QBmj4SyDNRbuc Thu, 10 Nov 2022 10:00:29 +0000 <![CDATA[ “You Don't Have to Blow Your Cookies in the First Bar”: Tommy Bolin on the Art of Guitar Solos ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/you-dont-have-to-blow-your-cookies-in-the-first-bar-tommy-bolin-on-the-art-of-guitar-solos Bif9HXupmqDLyUxUeUaXkH Wed, 03 Aug 2022 19:28:50 +0000 <![CDATA[ Watch Ritchie Blackmore Attack a Cameraman and Smash up His Rig Before Blowing a Hole in the Stage ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/watch-ritchie-blackmore-attack-a-cameraman-and-smash-up-his-rig-before-blowing-a-hole-in-the-stage UV6TCpEXaFrL5eppyauLGH Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:02:05 +0000 <![CDATA[ Five of Steve Morse’s Best Tips for Guitar Players ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/five-of-steve-morses-best-tips-for-guitar-players 4jiDJ8ceQ7HMTRSf99QjGT Tue, 10 May 2022 17:31:45 +0000 Tue, 13 Sep 2022 08:46:12 +0000 <![CDATA[ “They Make Me Shake My Head and Laugh Because They’re Just That Amazing”: Gretchen Menn Reveals Her Favorite Guitar Solos ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/they-make-me-shake-my-head-and-laugh-because-theyre-just-that-amazing-gretchen-menn-reveals-her-favorite-guitar-solos kxycBVNccgQEQW3pAoYAb3 Fri, 07 Jan 2022 19:50:24 +0000 <![CDATA[ Hear Black Sabbath Cover "Smoke on the Water" ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/hear-black-sabbath-cover-smoke-on-the-water mc8zR9jbMP5iFMYPLNByjM Mon, 13 Sep 2021 22:46:05 +0000 Mon, 13 Sep 2021 22:50:07 +0000 <![CDATA[ Steve Morse Reveals His Writing Secrets ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/steve-morse-reveals-his-writing-secrets bzfFQvTskpntP38zL348KA Wed, 25 Aug 2021 14:33:55 +0000 <![CDATA[ Classic Tones: “Smoke On the Water” – Deep Purple ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/classic-tones-smoke-on-the-water-deep-purple pqRc8uPbJpbWu6nEvZUWK5 Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:21:34 +0000 Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:25:48 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Unstoppable Rise of Ritchie Blackmore and the Making of 'Deep Purple in Rock' ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-unstoppable-rise-of-ritchie-blackmore-and-the-making-of-deep-purple-in-rock iVatt3UEW3tM4qfCJQKvRi Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:19:45 +0000 <![CDATA[ Vinyl Treasures: Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/vinyl-treasures-deep-purples-machine-head N3pm8w2hegA4PcVdVG64xE Fri, 26 Feb 2021 16:23:25 +0000 <![CDATA[ Go Inside Ritchie Blackmore's Guitar Collection ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/go-inside-ritchie-blackmores-guitar-collection o4NevyTFfW49EHcncpaKqG Thu, 18 Feb 2021 17:42:33 +0000 <![CDATA[ Steve Morse: My Career in Five Songs ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/steve-morse-my-career-in-five-songs BnCmFDky3b7wkPzAZkTvBo Tue, 10 Nov 2020 19:12:48 +0000 Tue, 13 Sep 2022 08:45:55 +0000