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Kevin Murphy

“He had this mystique to die for. There were rumours of him being nasty and mean. But he could play his ass off”: Steve Vai salutes the genius of Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore Steve Vai Deep Purple United States Joe Satriani Purple Chickenfoot
A portrait of Steve Vai and a photo of Ritchie Blackmore performing live.

Steve Vai might not play like Ritchie Blackmore, but the US six-string wizard is one of the few guitarists whose reputation matches that of the former Deep Purple legend – in fact, the latter once called Vai his favourite guitarist. In 2012, Vai – a member of the extended Purple family, thanks to his time in Whitesnake alongside former Mk III line-up singer David Coverdale – contributed a blazing version of Highway Star to Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head, marking the 40th anniversary of Purple’s iconic sixth album, Machine Head. At the time, Classic Rock spoke to Vai about his love of the British rock pioneers, Blackmore’s unique mystique and how to take a classic song into “another dimension”.

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