Ritchie Blackmore will play one of three rock shows next year in the UK.
The guitarist recently announced appearances at a pair of Monsters Of Rock festivals in Germany next June, and there’s been speculation about a live return at the UK’s Download event.
“Rainbow will only be playing three shows in 2016: two in Germany and one in the UK,” Blackmore‘s agent, Alec Leslie, tells Metal Shock Finland. “The UK performance will not be at Download Festival.”
Leslie confirmed the guitarist’s third rock performance next year will be announced on November 2.
The rare series of rock shows by Blackmore – where he’ll feature the Best of Rainbow and Deep Purple – follow years of work with Blackmore’s Night, a medieval folk band he formed in 1997 with then-girlfriend and now-wife Candice Night.
"I'm now 70, so I just felt like playing some rock 'n' roll for a few days,” the guitarist told Billboard. “We're going to do four or five dates" — most likely in England, Germany and Sweden — "of just playing the old rock stuff, Purple stuff and Rainbow. I'm doing it for the fans, for nostalgia, and the singer I found is very exciting; he's a cross between Ronnie James Dio meets Freddie Mercury. So this will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I'm sure he'll become pretty famous because of his voice."
Deep Purple were recently named among the nominees for induction into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The band are under consideration among 14 other artists for one of five spots in the Cleveland-based institution alongside Cheap Trick, Yes, The Cars and Steve Miller, among others.
See also:
Ritchie Blackmore confirms second Best Of Rainbow & Deep Purple show
Ritchie Blackmore announces Best Of Rainbow & Deep Purple show
Deep Purple singer not a fan of the Rock Hall
Deep Purple confirm plans to record new album
Search Deep Purple at hennemusic
