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For one night only

The much rumoured Deep Purple show at the Royal Albert Hall has finally materialized. It is scheduled for November 25, 2026. The tickets go on sale this Friday, February 6 at 10 a.m., with registration for presale already open via the same link. Promo blurb reads: On November 25th 2026, Deep Purple will return to […]

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The end of humanity, but in an optimistic way

Ian Gillan was a guest on the Songwriting For Songwriters podcast, talking about, naturally, his songwriting process, both within the band and as a solo artist. He also mentioned that the new Deep Purple album is due out some time in June. Well, it’s very interesting on this one. I can’t give you too much […]

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The rubble moved

In this collection of bite-sized memoirs, Ritchie Blackmore talks about the earliest days of Deep Purple: meeting Derek Lawrence, signing an unfavourable contract, covering Hush, and 16 telegrams from Chris Curtis.

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Live from eagle’s nest

A couple of Steve Morse interviews from the recently concluded NAMM 2026. Steve talks about his relationship with Ernie Ball and his latest album Triangulation

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Purpendicular at 30

Purpendicular holds a special place in our hearts, as its release and events leading to it coincided with the formation of the online community that had founded this website and still runs it to this day. It is also one of the seminal albums in the history of the band — alongside with In Rock, […]

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The Paul and Steve Show at NAMM 2026

The yearly Namm Show in Anaheim, CA ends today. As usual, the show is a place where both professional musicians and regular folks roam around the show floor looking for the latest in musical tools. This always generates interesting YouTube videos from demos and impromptu small concerts in exbitor booths. Paul Gilbert and Steve Morse […]

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PTSD from sleeping in a bunk

Steve Morse was interviewed by the Six String Alliance. At over an hour and twenty minutes long, in-depth does not even begin to describe it. Hint: push it full screen to see individual chapters. In this in-depth interview, legendary guitarist Steve Morse reflects on his personal path, artistic growth, and the drive that keeps him […]

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Artwoods: Live at Klooks Kleek

From the letters to our better-late-then-never desk, we are glad to present you an actually pretty decent quality recording of the two early Artwoods performances from 1964, featuring Jon Lord. It apparently came out a few years ago: in 2016 on vinyl, and in 2023 on CD and digital. The latter are available via Amazon, […]

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The horse that wasn’t iron

Back in 2024, an outfit called Defenders of the Faith published an interview with Nick Simper on the occasion of the two Warhorse studio albums being reissued. That interview completely slipped under our radar, until now. Warhorse’s self titled debut was significantly heavier than anything you had done with Deep Purple. In the same breath, […]

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Between the hard rock and a beautiful place

This is equally both educational and heartwarming. In November 2024 Ian Gillan invited a group of aspiring young musicians from his home town of Lyme Regis on the Southern coast of England to the Deep Purple gig in Birmingham. He gave them the full tour of the backstage, they got to meet the band and […]

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An interview in eight movements

Ovais Naqvi, the author of the new Jon Lord book Before We Forget – A Work in Eight Movements, was interviewed for the Booked On Rock podcast. The conversation is over an hour long, so pour yourself your favourite beverage, kick back, and enjoy.

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Symmetry and togetherness

Here are a couple of from-the-vaults interviews of moderate interest, posted by the Blackmore’s official YT channel. Glenn Hughes, Chad Smith, and Luis Maldonado being interviewed some time circa the Re-Machined tribute album sessions. That album came out in 2012.

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Hughes tour cancelled in both US and Europe

A couple of days ago, Glenn Hughes posted to his social media accounts that he had to cancel his upcoming US tour due to doctor’s orders. Today, the promotor for the gig in Sweden this summer, said that Hughes now has been ordered to cancel the European dates as well. Contact your point of sale […]

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A bargain if there ever was one

Just a quick note to our Canadian readers, the paperless version of Martin Popoff’s book Seven Decades of Deep Purple is currently heavily discounted at $2.99 on both Amazon Kindle and Kobo. If you’re still on the fence, here’s another short review of the book: I have read all of Martin Popoff’s previous books on […]

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On the long winter night

The indefatigable Purple Strangers of Finland will be holding their Purple Night 2026 on January 31 at the On the Rocks club in Helsinki. This year, the gathering will be celebrating two albums in particular — Fireball and Rainbow Rising. There will be two tribute acts: The Mule, preforming Fireball in its entirety, and Leverage, […]

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On the thin ice of a new year

The following announcement has been posted on Glenn Hughes’ official site: Glenn Hughes – 2026 Live Shows Cancelled Jan 9th, 2026 | no responses We regret to inform you that due to a minor health issue that requires his attention over the upcoming months, Glenn Hughes has made the difficult decision to cancel his 2026 […]

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Warts and all

Phil Aston of the Now Spinning Magazine podcast talks to Richard Digby Smith, who in the 70s worked at the London’s famed Island Studios, and more recently, was involved with the Made in Japan remix that came out in 2025. From Island Studios to Super-Deluxe Box Sets: The Engineer Richard Digby Smith On this episode, […]

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Author’s Top 10 Jon Lord performances on record

While we wait for Before We Forget – the forthcoming biography on Jon Lord – its author, Ovais Naqvi, offers his personal Top 10 favourite recorded performances by Jon Lord – and explains his choices. Learn more about the book: Before We Forget – the story of Jon Lord. 1. Deep Purple: Knocking at Your […]

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Before We Forget – the story of Jon Lord

Before We Forget – the forthcoming biography – offers a point of view on Jon Lord and his career and life as a musician that is unique, newly researched and which promises to fascinate the nerds and enlighten the casuals. The Highway Star’s Rasmus Heide has read excerpts of the book and spent time with […]

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Sweet child on the Telegraph Road

And we’ll leave you today with this little gem by Dutch artist Laszlo Buring. His specialty seems to be reimagining classic tracks in the “what-if” style of another band. Here is an example: a cover of Child in Time as if it was written by Dire Straits

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