Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968.Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock. The band has also incorporated pop and progressive rock elements. It was once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band, and it has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.Deep Purple was ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program.

The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus. The 1968-76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums). This line-up was revived from 1984-89 and again in 1993 before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up including guitarist Steve Morse has been much more stable, though Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member.

Deep Purple are considered to be one of the hardest touring bands in the world.From 1968 until today they continue to tour around the world. In 2007 they received special award for selling more than 150 000 tickets in France with 40 dates in the country in 2007 alone. In 2007, Purple's Rapture of the Deep Tour was voted #6 concert tour of the year (in all music genres) by Planet Rock listeners. Rolling Stones's A Bigger Bang Tour was voted #5 and beat Purple's tour with only 1%. Deep Purple is due to release new live compilation DVD box, Around the World Live, in May 2008. In February of 2008, the band made their first ever appearance in Moscow Kremlin at the personal request of Dmitry Medvedev who at the time was considered a shoo-in for the seat of the Presidency of Russia. In September of 2008, the band appeared in the 4,000-seat ancient Roman amphitheatre at Caesarea, Israel, within a four-performance Israeli tour. The band's Israeli tour was originally planned to be comprised of two performances, both in Caesarea, but two more performances were added in Hangar 11, Tel Aviv in view of the demand for tickets, both original performances being sold out minutes after tickets were placed for sale on-line. The band has decided to return to Israel later in September 2008, after a three-performance tour in Spain, in order to give the two additional concerts. The band were iconically popular in Israel in the 1970s, have influenced Israeli rock music and remain consistently popular today, having successfully bridged the generation gap as evident in the current tour.