Deep Purple Biography
Who are Deep Purple, and how did a London group that formed in 1968 become hard rock fixtures. Deep Purple is the name, and their date and place of birth are London, England, in 1968 when keyboard man Jon Lord and guitar great Ritchie Blackmore began cobbling together a new group that was completed soon thereafter by singer Rod Evans, bass man Nick Simper, and drummer Ian Paice.
Try family history as an enlarged musical family growing across the ages and line ups. The original Mark I team was replaced in 1969 by the legendary Mark II with Ian Gillan on vocals and bass man Roger Glover alongside Blackmore, Lord, and Paice, and later line ups would see the likes of David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Tommy Bolin, Joe Lynn Turner, Steve Morse, and current day guitarist Simon McBride.
Education, in a musical context, came from their members’ backgrounds. Lord was classically trained with a love for Bach and classical scoring for the classical orchestra, Blackmore was a seasoned session pro with a sharp ear for riff and melody, Paice was brought up in beat groups and swing, and Gillan brought big range and stage presense.
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That combination of classical ideas, blues inflections, and pop sensibilities provided the fuel for their earlier psychedelic and progressive records before they found the heavier voice that would be their mark. The career direction races on.
After the first Shades of Deep Purple and a chart clinger with Hush, they shifted hard with Deep Purple in Rock in 1970, followed by Fireball, and Machine Head in 1972 with Highway Star, Lazy, Space Truckin, and the classic Smoke on the Water spawned by the inferno at the Montreux Casino.
Made in Japan set a template for live hard rock. Success split the group apart, and exoduses ushered in Mark III with Coverdale and Hughes and the records Burn and Stormbringer. Blackmore resigned to form Rainbow, his replacement on Come Taste the Band being Tommy Bolin, and the band dissolved in 1976.
There was a full reunion in 1984 that yielded Perfect Strangers and a massive tour, followed by more changes as Gillan resigned and rejoined, Blackmore resigned again, a short stint by Joe Satriani, and a long stretch of inventiveness by Steve Morse from 1994 into the 2000s.
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There was a change for Lord to be substituted by Don Airey in 2002, maintaining the Hammond-driven persona, and in 2022 Morse resigned to care for his sick wife and was replaced by Simon McBride. Major milestones include selling over 100 million records, a 1975 Guinness honor for being the world’s loudest band for a 1972 Rainbow Theatre performance, and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
They are often placed alongside Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as a hard rock and early metal core three-piece and their songs came before later speed and thrash ideas heard within metal. Major life events are woven in the history.
The Montreux fire that spawned Smoke on the Water, the ongoing yet fruitful stage battle between guitar and organ between Gillan and his stage right-hand men on and off stage, the 1976 loss of Tommy Bolin, the retirement and later loss of Jon Lord, the stability for a long stretch in Mark VIII, and the new musical blooming again in the 2010s in Now What, Infinite, and Whoosh.
In 2024 they released =1, their first studio album with McBride, while the =1 More Time tour unveiled their history to a whole new audience. Ian Paice reported in 2025 that they’ve begun writing some new material for a possible 2026 release.
Along each chapter, Ian Paice’s drums are the core on which they sound, the Blackmore to Morse to McBride line-up keeps the punch, and Gillan’s vocals and Airey’s keys are the drama. The result is a band that never stopped growing, never stopped touring, and never stopped adding new pages to a book that began on London’s doorstep in 1968.
Contents
Deep Purple Top Songs
- Smoke on the Water
- Highway Star
- Child in Time
- Black Night
- Lazy
- Space Truckin
- Speed King
- Fireball
- Woman from Tokyo
- Burn
- Mistreated
- Perfect Strangers
- Knocking at Your Back Door
- Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
- Pictures of You
Deep Purple Discography
- Shades of Deep Purple 1968
- The Book of Taliesyn 1968
- Deep Purple 1969
- Deep Purple in Rock 1970
- Fireball 1971
- Machine Head 1972
- Who Do We Think We Are 1973
- Burn 1974
- Stormbringer 1974
- Come Taste the Band 1975
- Perfect Strangers 1984
- The House of Blue Light 1987
- Slaves and Masters 1990
- The Battle Rages On 1993
- Purpendicular 1996
- Abandon 1998
- Bananas 2003
- Rapture of the Deep 2005
- Now What 2013
- Infinite 2017
- Whoosh 2020
- Turning to Crime 2021
- =1 2024
Deep Purple Top Albums
- Machine Head 1972. A cornerstone of hard rock with enduring riffs and road tested anthems
- Made in Japan 1972 live. A benchmark live album that captures their power and improvisation
- Deep Purple in Rock 1970. The decisive turn to a heavier sound that shaped the genre
- Burn 1974. A fiery reboot with Coverdale and Hughes that broadened their palette
- Fireball 1971. Adventurous and aggressive with a rhythm section in full flight
- Perfect Strangers 1984. Triumphant reunion record with songs built for arenas
- Who Do We Think We Are 1973. Blues edged swagger and radio ready hooks
- Now What 2013. Late career highlight produced by Bob Ezrin with fresh energy
- Infinite 2017. Veteran assurance and strong songwriting with modern clarity
- Whoosh 2020. Reflective and melodic while still delivering the classic drive
Deep Purple Awards
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees 2016
- World Music Awards Legend Award 2008
- Ivor Novello International Achievement 2019
- VH1 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock number 22 on the list
- Guinness citation as the globe’s loudest band for a 1972 show
- Planet Rock poll placed them among the most influential bands ever
Deep Purple Singles List with UK and US Chart
| Year | Single | UK | US (Billboard Hot 100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Hush | — | 4 |
| 1968 | Kentucky Woman | — | 38 |
| 1969 | River Deep – Mountain High | — | 53 |
| 1969 | Emmaretta | — | 128 |
| 1969 | Help! | — | — |
| 1969 | Hallelujah | — | 108 |
| 1970 | Black Night | 2 | 66 |
| 1970 | Speed King | — | — |
| 1971 | Strange Kind of Woman | 8 | — |
| 1971 | Fireball | 15 | — |
| 1972 | Never Before | 35 | — |
| 1972 | Lazy | — | — |
| 1972 | Child in Time | — | — |
| 1972 | Highway Star | — | — |
| 1973 | Woman from Tokyo | — | 60 |
| 1973 | Smoke on the Water | — | 4 |
| 1973 | Super Trouper | — | — |
| 1974 | Might Just Take Your Life | 55 | 91 |
| 1974 | Burn | — | 105 |
| 1974 | You Can’t Do It Right | — | — |
| 1974 | Lady Double Dealer | — | — |
| 1975 | Stormbringer | — | — |
| 1975 | Child in Time (EP) | — | — |
| 1975 | Black Night (live) | — | — |
| 1976 | Gettin’ Tighter | — | — |
| 1976 | You Keep on Moving | — | — |
| 1977 | Smoke on the Water (live) | 21 | — |
| 1984 | Knocking at Your Back Door | 68 | 61 |
| 1985 | Perfect Strangers | 48 | — |
| 1987 | Call of the Wild | 92 | 93 |
| 1987 | Bad Attitude | — | — |
| 1988 | Hush (re-recording) | 62 | — |
| 1990 | King of Dreams | 70 | — |
| 1991 | Love Conquers All | 57 | — |
| 1993 | Anya | — | — |
| 1993 | Time to Kill | — | — |
| 1994 | Anyone’s Daughter (live) | — | — |
| 1996 | Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming | — | — |
| 1996 | Aviator | — | — |
| 2003 | Haunted | — | — |
| 2011 | Hush (live) | — | — |
| 2013 | All the Time in the World | — | — |
| 2013 | Hell to Pay | — | — |
| 2013 | Vincent Price | — | — |
| 2013 | Above and Beyond | — | — |
| 2015 | Out of Hand | — | — |
| 2017 | Time for Bedlam | — | — |
| 2017 | All I Got Is You | — | — |
| 2017 | Johnny’s Band | — | — |
| 2020 | Throw My Bones | — | — |
| 2020 | Man Alive | — | — |
| 2020 | Nothing at All | — | — |
| 2021 | 7 and 7 Is | — | — |
| 2021 | Oh Well | — | — |
| 2021 | Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu | — | — |
| 2024 | Portable Door | — | — |
| 2024 | Pictures of You | — | — |
| 2024 | Lazy Sod | — | — |