“I wasn’t there to play correct notes. I was there to see old friends”: Ritchie Blackmore opens up on his Deep Purple reunion performance

Ritchie Blackmore performs live with Deep Purple.

It was a huge cause for celebration when Ritchie Blackmore stepped on stage with Deep Purple for the first time in over three decades last week.

Blackmore joined the band he co-founded in 1968 to play their timeless classic Smoke on the Water at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, on August 12. It was his first appearance with the group since 1993, when he left the band mid-tour.