The band's line-up (currently including Ian Gillan, and guitarist Steve Morse from 1994) has been much more stable in recent years, although keyboardist Jon Lord's retirement from the band in 2002 (being succeeded by Don Airey) left Ian Paice as the only original Deep Purple member still in the band.Р”Вeep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, and a poll on radio station Planet Rock ranked them 5th among the 'most influential bands ever'. The band achieved more modest success in the intervening periods between 19 with the line-up including Rod Evans (lead vocals) and Nick Simper (bass, backing vocals), between 19 with the line-up including David Coverdale (lead vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals) (and Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore in 1975), and between 19 with the line-up including Joe Lynn Turner (vocals). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973 and was revived from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1992 to 1993. Their second and most commercially successful line-up consisted of Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), and Ritchie Blackmore (guitar). The 1968РІР‚вЂњ1976 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV.

They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as 'the globe's loudest band' for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre and have sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide.Р”Вeep Purple have had several line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus (1976РІР‚вЂњ1984). Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the 'unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies'. Originally formed as a psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. The band is considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical approach changed over the years. Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in Hertford, Hertfordshire in 1968.

Smoke on the water guitar chord