DEEP Purple is the very definition of a “band otai” (veteran or pioneering band), with a career spanning five decades. Few, if any, aside from the Rolling Stones, can boast of such longevity and still sell out tours when most of their peers have either left their mortal coil or are in nursing homes.
Deep Purple has been a going concern since 1968 and just released a critically acclaimed album last month =1.
Unholy trinity
The music press and many fans tend to pin ground zero for hard rock or heavy metal around the works of three British bands Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
Modelled like cars
Deep Purple have gone through numerous line-up changes. Each line-up is identified by “Mk”, similar to old British car models. The band has four significant line-ups, thus carrying the MkI-IV denominations.
Rock trees
Some rock fans will be aware of “rock trees” – charts showing the movement of musicians from one band to another. This was highlighted in a scene in Jack Black’s comedy School of Rock, which outlined various musicians “branching out”. Deep Purple was very much part of that trend as its multiple line-up changes has seen the likes of Ian Gillan, David Coverdale (latterly of Whitesnake) and Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Rainbow) take microphone duties.
Over the years, members of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake seemed almost interchangeable. It is so convoluted that there is a dedicated Wiki page for ex-members of Deep Purple!
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