Ritchie Blackmore At 79
On April 14, Ritchie Blackmore turned 79. In a career spanning well over half a century he has been one of the most influential figures in contemporary rock.
Blackmore was a founder member of Deep Purple in 1967, but even at that young age he was already both an experienced session guitarist as well as a live performer with both The Outlaws and Screaming Lord Sutch.
He stayed with Purple through two line-up changes, leaving after the 1974 Stormbringer album. The band split after the tragic death of his replacement, but reformed in 1984 and were again massively successful. After leaving Purple for the first time, he formed Rainbow with the late Ronnie James Dio; the band had both a commercial and mystical flavour to it with tracks like Temple Of The King.
After the Purple reunion, Blackmore could have rested on his laurels, but on Guy Fawkes Night, 1989, he met a star struck teenager on a New York football pitch who was to change his life and the face of modern music.
At that time, Ritchie was 44, married and divorced three times with a son who was seven years older than Candice. Her parents must surely have been horrified by their relationship, and any bookmaker would have given long odds on it lasting more than a year or two. Fortunately, magic was in the air, and after a looonnngg engagement, the two married at her New York home in 2008. Candice is now a mother of two – Autumn and Rory.
Prior to their marriage, Candice had joined him initially as a backing singer but soon morphed into an equal partner as lead vocalist/instrumentalist with Blackmore’s Night. Next month, the mother of two will be 53, and seems to grow lovelier with every passing year. Blackmore’s Night has been phenomenally successful, recording and performing new songs, new songs based on ancient melodies, and covers of Ritchie’s earlier work. Their fanbase is worldwide.
At the time of writing, with the exception of the tour dates page, their main website has not been updated since 2020, but the good news for American fans is that there will be a short tour of New England starting with Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on June 22. For those who cannot make the trip, both their Facebook page and their YouTube channels are updated regularly.