One of the early Heavy Metal groups came out of England in 1968, they considered themselves as Heavy Metal and modern Hard Rock. Deep Purple were pioneers in this genre of music. They started with plans to be psychedelic and progressive in their approach, but naturally moved to hard rock with influences from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The three were considered the Unholy Trinity of British Hard Rock and Heavy Metal in the early to mid 70’s.

Their first two hits were Kentucky Woman, a remake of a Neil Diamond song, and Hush. Deep Purple also had huge success in 1973 with their Machine Head album and the song Smoke on The Water. The album was supposed to be recorded at the Montreaux Casino using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, but a fire while Frank Zappa and The Mothers were performing there burned down the casino. The incident was the inspiration for Smoke on The Water.

Like most rock bands Deep Purple experienced line-up changes, and they took a break for about 8 years between 1976 and 1984. The original lineup from 1968 was vocalist Rod Evans, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, bassist Nick Simper, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice. Their second most successful lineup also included Ian Gillian on vocals and Roger Glover on Bass who joined original members Jon Lord, Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore.

VH1 ranks Deep Purple as number 22 on their Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program. Deep Purple we awarded the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 2016.

Here are some shots of Deep Purple performing in on television in 1907 with the lineup of Ian Paice, Ian Gillian, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore.

Deep Purple

British Heavy Metal Band Deep Purple

 

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