Glenn Hughes recently spoke with Classic Rock about his time in Deep Purple, his departure from Dead Daisies, and how his former bandmate nearly forced him to join a new band. Glenn responded, “When was the last time I saw Ritchie Blackmore?” “It would have been a long time ago if we had met face to face.” But we never had a fight.” Hughes also released Ritchie’s proposal from six years ago, as well as his response: “He did invite me to Rainbow six years ago. Carole [Stevens, Blackmore’s manager and mother-in-law] called the night before I was leaving to say they had found a singer who also played bass. I wanted to fly to New York and have lunch with Ritchie, to look him in the eyes and hug him, but I didn’t want to play bass behind an unknown singer… yet again. As a result, I did not attend.” Hughes discussed ‘Burn,’ which he helped record nearly shortly after joining Deep Purple, and noted that he equates the album with ‘freshness’: “I joined the band from Trapeze, and then seven weeks later, David [Coverdale] joined.” Everything appeared to be spanking new. There was a lot of back-slapping and chumminess. Even [Ritchie] Blackmore was involved.
It was pretty cool.” Glenn also discussed how he left the supergroup Dead Daisies to focus on his work with Joe Bonamassa in Black Country Communion: “I agreed to join the band after meeting David Lowy [band leader and guitarist] in the spring of 2019.” With the Dead Daisies, I took things one song at a time, one album at a time, one year at a time. But then the epidemic struck, and I began to miss my own band and music. I was still happy with David Lowy, whom I regard to be a very wonderful man, but at the end of last year, my manager began receiving offers for these legacy shows surrounding ‘Burn’ – incredibly good ones – so I took them.” Glenn Hughes joined Deep Purple in 1973 to replace Roger Glover, and he has subsequently worked with a variety of bands and musicians, including Black Sabbath, Phenomena, and Gary Moore. He co-founded Black Country Communion with Joe Bonamassa in 2009 and joined The Dead Daisies in 2019. After leaving Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore intended to pursue a solo career. He did, however, form Rainbow in 1975, with Dio as the vocalist. Rainbow, which was planned to be a one-time collaboration, has evolved into a touring band with live concerts. The entire article can be seen here.
