“There’s not much swagger in that band.” For Glenn Hughes, joining Deep Purple wasn’t the clear-cut choice that you’d think

Glenn Hughes of California Breed performs at The Fillmore Detroit on October 5, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan.

For those not in the know, singer, songwriter and bassist Glenn Hughes honed his chops in the underrated funk-rock band Trapeze as a teenager and then sprang into the limelight in 1973 when he was recruited into Deep Purple, then one of the biggest bands ever formed. 

“They’d recently lost their singer Ian Gillan and their bassist Roger Glover, and were looking for replacements,” said Hughes in his 2021 BP cover feature. “I knew that if I was going to join Deep Purple that I would make my mark on the international stage immediately. I realised that I had to leave Trapeze, to go and find the world.”