Deep Purple has had ample opportunities to hush itself, if you will, over the years. The London-formed hard rock troupe has gone through the kinds of lineup changes during its 46 years that would have debilitated most bands. With Irish guitarist Simon McBride joining in two years ago to replace Steve Morse after an 18-year tenure, the Purple gang is on its Mark IXth lineup.
Only drummer Ian Paice has been a fixture since 1968. But bassist Roger Glover, who along with frontman Ian Glover was part of the famed Mark II — i.e.
Machine Head and “Smoke on the Water” — says there was never a thought of consigning Purple to the past. See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “We can’t stop,” Glover tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Switzerland. “We love what we do; that’s the bottom line.
And we’ve had the opportunity to carry on. Most bands don’t get that opportunity..
.well, I don’t follow bands that much, but certainly for us that’s been the case. “I’m in my late ’70s (78) — we all are except for the new guitarist, who’s in his early forties.
He’s infused the band with a lot of energy. We may have been lacking a little — but not much, I don’t think.” Glover says it was Deep Purple’s live performances with McBride that sparked the idea to make =1 , due out July 19.
It’s Deep Purple’s 23rd studio album and the follow-up to 2021’s covers set Turning to Crime . McBride had been playing with Purple k.