Deep Purple

Deep Purple is a British musical group of hard rock that originated in 1968 in Hertford, United Kingdom. It is recognized as one of the pioneers and most prominent in its genre, influencing future rock and heavy metal bands along with Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Its musical style has integrated elements of progressive rock, symphonic rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, funk rock, and classical music.Throughout its career, Deep Purple has managed to sell over 150 million albums worldwide.The band has experienced numerous changes in its lineup over the years, including a period of inactivity from July 1976 until its return in April 1984.

The first four formations of the group are commonly known as "Mark I", "II", "III", and "IV". The "Mark II", composed of Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums), and Roger Glover (bass), is considered the most successful in terms of sales, active between 1969 and 1973, 1984 to 1989, and again from 1992 to 1993, when tensions between Blackmore and the rest of the members became unsustainable. Subsequently, the lineup that included Steve Morse in place of Blackmore and Don Airey in place of the deceased Jon Lord, remained from 2002 until the summer of 2022. However, on July 23, 2022, the band experienced another change due to the departure of Steve Morse, who announced his decision to leave the group to dedicate himself to the care of his wife suffering from cancer.In 1974, the Guinness Book of Records recognized Deep Purple as "the loudest band on the planet" after a concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on June 30, 1972, where they reached 117 decibels.In 2013, a survey by the British radio station Planet Rock placed Deep Purple in fifth place among the "most influential bands in history".In 1967, Chris Curtis, former drummer of "The Searchers", contacted Tony Edwards, a London-based businessman, to represent a new group that he had conceived, called Roundabout, due to the idea that the musicians would enter and leave the group, creating a cyclic formation, similar to a roundabout (roundabout in English means "roundabout").