Longtime Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse was asked by Billboard for his thoughts on Ritchie Blackmore returning to the fold, to which he replied:
“Well, he’s one of the founding members of Deep Purple. Fans would love it.
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“It would be nice, I think, to see closure with everybody involved, and the bad feelings put aside.
“I think they’d all get a kick out of it if they could get past the psychological barriers. I am a fan of music, I’m a musician. I am not a politician.
“Now, a lot of people would feel intimidated, to have somebody come who’s likely to play over them, standing in front of them and stealing the spotlight or whatever.
“But I thought, a lot of people would love to see this. And at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I thought Ritchie Blackmore was going to show up. He could’ve played three songs, but I ended up doing them, because he didn’t. That was up in the air.
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“There have been a lot of bad things said and done amongst the guys, and anyhow, it is like the ice has to be broken.
“I think that once that’s done, they’d all have a great time. But I don’t know how to go about doing that. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, all members, past and present and future [laughs] of Deep Purple, are welcome.”
Last month, Ritchie told The Rock N’ Roll Reporter about the whole idea:
“I think if they would be interested, and our schedules aligned, I would be available for one show – for nostalgic reasons.
“But I don’t think Deep Purple have any interest in that. They have their niche and are not into doing things like that.
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“We are friends, I’ve been doing my music for 20 years, and they’re doing their stuff for 20 years. It’s probably not likely to happen.
“Also, their management wouldn’t like it, even if it was for just one show. Their management wouldn’t allow it, I’m sure.”