Former Rainbow frontman Graham Bonnet suspects Ritchie Blackmore’s promise of a return to rock could be a practical joke.
Blackmore last month announced he’d temporarily set aside his folk music career for a short run of rock shows in 2016. The singer, who appeared on Rainbow’s 1979 album Down To Earth, would love to reunite with the guitarist – but admits it’s unlikely.
Bonnet tells Metal Mythos: “I don’t know if it’s fact or fiction because I know what Ritchie’s like. He’s a great practical joker. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just said this on a whim.
“But I think if he was going to get a band back together, I think he would put the original Deep Purple lineup together. That’s what I would imagine rather than Rainbow. But I don’t know because sometimes he’s hard to read.”
He explains: “The reformation of Rainbow would be a little harder than putting together the old Deep Purple because the original Rainbow guy is not with us – it should be Ronnie James Dio singing.”
Bonnet adds: “If Ritchie called me up I would certainly do a show or two with those guys again. It was one of the best times of my life. He gave me a new career.”
The singer made his Escape From Alcatrazz: Alive In Japan EP free to download earlier this year and revealed that he hoped to release a follow-up to his 1999 solo album The Day I Went Mad at some point in the future.
