Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
	Blackmore in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Richard Hugh Blackmore
Also known as	The Man in Black
Born	14 April 1945 (age 79); Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Origin	Heston, Middlesex, England
Genres	Hard rock; heavy metal; blues rock; progressive rock; folk rock; neoclassical metal;
Occupations	Musician; songwriter;
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1960–present
Member of	Rainbow, Blackmore's Night
Formerly of	Deep Purple, The Outlaws
Spouse(s)	; Margit Volkmar (m. 1965; div. 1969) ; Bärbel (m. 1969; div. 1971) ; Amy Rothman (m. 1981; div. 1983) ; Candice Night (m. 2008)
Website	blackmoresnight.com

Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. He was a founding member and the lead guitarist of Deep Purple, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds.^[1] He is prolific in creating guitar riffs and has been known for playing both classically influenced and blues-based solos.

After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the hard rock band Rainbow,^[2] which fused baroque music influences and elements of hard rock.^[3]^[4] Rainbow steadily moved to catchy pop-style mainstream rock.^[2] Rainbow broke up in 1984 with Blackmore re-joining Deep Purple until 1993. In 1997 he formed the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night along with his current wife Candice Night, shifting to vocalist-centred sounds.

As a member of Deep Purple, Blackmore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2016.^[5] He is cited by publications such as Guitar World and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest and most influential guitar players of all time.^[6]^[3]

^ Cite error: The named reference The Quietus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Rainbow bio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
^ Cite error: The named reference Guitar International was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Deep Purple Rocks Hall of Fame With Hits-Filled Set" Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 July 2016
^ Olsen, Eric (1 February 2004). "Guitar World's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time"". blogcritics. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

[The_Quietus-1] Cite error: The named reference The Quietus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Rainbow_bio-2] Cite error: The named reference Rainbow bio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[RStone-3] "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2013.

[Guitar_International-4] Cite error: The named reference Guitar International was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] "Deep Purple Rocks Hall of Fame With Hits-Filled Set" Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 July 2016

[6] Olsen, Eric (1 February 2004). "Guitar World's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time"". blogcritics. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

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