Deep Purple have shot down the idea of Ritchie Blackmore making a return appearance for a one-off reunion show.
The co-founding guitarist, who left the band in 1993, recently said he’d accept an invitation to stage a temporary comeback – but added: “I don’t believe Deep Purple would be interested.”
Now frontman Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice appear to have proved he was right, during a SiriusXM Town Hall show (via Blabbermouth).
Gillan said: “I get on great with Ritchie these days, but I don’t think Ritchie’s playing great these days. And for that reason mostly, I don’t think it would work.”
Glover commented: “I don’t think he approves of me very much because of the remixes and remasters that I did of the older albums. That’s what I’ve heard anyway.”
Adding that he’d be “happy to talk” to Blackmore, although they hadn’t communicated in “twenty-odd years,” he said of a reunion: “You can never say never, but I would doubt it very much.”
Paice said he didn’t want anything to interfere with the camaraderie of the current lineup, which has featured Blackmore’s replacement Steve Morse since 1994.
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“I enjoy going on stage every night knowing that I’m with my four friends,” the drummer reflected. “That wasn’t always the case – and I wouldn’t want to go back to that again.
“It’s just the way the man is. He’s a man of great emotions. He works it out in black and white. there’s no grey areas to Ritchie. ‘I will’ or ‘I won’t.’ ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it.’ Sometimes your band members suffer from that.
“I want to go on stage and have fun. I don’t want to go no stage and come off feeling down and miserable. I’m not prepared to go back on that route again – no.”
Earlier this month Morse talked up Blackmore’s return suggestion, saying: “Fans would love it. It would be nice, I think, to see closure with everybody involved and the bad feelings put aside.”
Deep Purple released 20th album Infinite in April, tied in with a tour that may or may not be their farewell, which includes a run of UK shows in November.
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Deep Purple The Long Goodbye tour 2017
Sep 01: Burgettstown KeyBank Pavilion, PA (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 02: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 03: Clarkston DTE Energy Music Theatre, MI (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 06: Tinley Park Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, IL (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 08: Maryland Heights Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 09: Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center, OH (With Alice Cooper)
Sep 10: Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center, OH (With Alice Cooper)
Nov 17: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
Nov 18: Manchester Arena
Nov 20: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Nov 22: Glasgow SSE Hydro
Nov 23: London O2
