Deep Purple was formed in 1968 with keyboardist Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore . Along with Rod Evans on vocals, Nick Simper on bass, and Ian Paice on drums, the band released their first album, Shades of Deep Purple, in the same year. The same lineup remained for the first three albums, until Paice, Blackmore, and Lord decided to remove Evans and Simper and create a heavier sound.
The band then hired vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover , and in 1970 released their fourth album, Deep Purple In Rock . By 1971, with the album Fireball , the band had already achieved commercial success, but it was with Machine Head in 1972 that Deep Purple became known worldwide, for tracks like "Highway Star" and "Smoke On The Water".
Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale to replace them . This new lineup released the successful albums Burn and Stormbringer in 1974.
In 1975, Blackmore claimed he no longer liked the band's sound and left to form Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio . Guitarist Tommy Bolin was brought in to fill his spot, and the band released Come Taste The Band in 1975. The following year, the band decided to split up.
In 1984, the band's classic lineup, with Glover, Paice, Lord, Gillan, and Blackmore, reunited and released the acclaimed Perfect Strangers . After The House Of Blue Light , Gillan was fired from Deep Purple, and Joe Lynn Turner was brought in to sing on Slaves And Masters in 1990. Following insistence from the rest of the band, Blackmore relented, Gillan was brought back, and the band released The Battle Rages On… , the last album with the classic lineup.
Blackmore left the band again and was replaced by Steve Morse , who remains to this day. In 2002, Lord left amicably and Don Airey took his place, also filling the position permanently. In 2013, Deep Purple released Now What? with Morse, Airey, Gillan, Glover, and Paice.
Often cited as one of the pioneers of hard rock and one of the most influential bands of all time, Deep Purple has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.
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