Guitar ace Ritchie
Blackmore is best known for his time in British heavy
metal rock band Deep
Purple.
He was born April 14, 1945, in Weston-Super-Mare, Avon,
England.
Blackmore played in bands such as Mike
Dee and the Jaywalkers, Screaming Lord Sutch and His
Savages, and Mandrake
Root before joining Deep Purple in 1968.
Blackmore's simple yet striking guitar playing made Deep Purple a
superstar act. Machine Head (1972) made the U.S. top 10 and
spawned the band's smash "Smoke on the Water."
But Blackmore left the following year to form Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Though
the band made many fans among hard-rock purists, it eventually
disintegrated after Blackmore allegedly couldn't get along with various
members.
Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple briefly for its 1984 reunion. Last year,
he issued Under a Violet Moon with his new band, Blackmore's Night.
Other birthdays Friday: John
Bell (Widespread
Panic), 37; Barrett
Martin (Screaming
Trees), 33; and Martyn Le
Noble (Pornos for
Pyros), 31.
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