Ritchie’s 2016 plans don’t include former frontmen - but guitarist predicts his chosen vocalist will become “pretty famous”
RITCHIE BLACKMORE has revealed his short-term rock comeback will feature a previously unknown singer – and not any of the vocalists he’s previously worked with.
The Deep Purple and Rainbow founder recently confirmed he’d play a handful of rock shows next June, and later explained some of his reasons behind the move.
His latest comments are at odds with ex-Rainbow frontman Joe Lynn Turner’s insistence that he’d be part of the project.
Blackmore tells Billboard: “The singer I found is very exciting – he’s a cross between Dio and Freddie Mercury. This will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I’m sure he’ll become pretty famous because of his voice.”
Meanwhile, Blackmore’s Night have released a video for their track Will O’ The Wisp, taken from 10th album All Our Yesterdays, to be launched on September 18.
The guitarist has no intention of abandoning the freedom he feels with his current band – citing the example of having recorded a version of Sonny and Cher’s I Got You Babe for their latest title.
“I just love the audacity that we can approach anything we want to,” Blackmore says. “We’re not locked in a box, unlike the old days where something like that would be talked down.
“People would say, ‘We’re not going to play I Got You Babe – that just doesn’t work in a hard rock band.’ In this band we can do anything we want, which kind of puzzles people.
“They think, ‘What are they, a renaissance band? A pop band? A folk band?’ No – we like to be everything.”
Blackmore is the subject of a DVD documentary, to be launched in November.
