Legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is returning to the same stage with Deep Purple for the first time in 33 years.
The historic event will take place tonight, August 12, 2026, during the band's concert at the legendary Jones Beach Theater in Wantage, New York. The 81-year-old musician himself revealed the shocking and long-awaited news during a live broadcast on Instagram, organized together with his wife Candice Knight.
Blackmore told fans that he personally initiated the meeting by sending a message to vocalist Ian Gillan. The frontman and the other members of Deep Purple immediately accepted the offer to play a song “about the old times“.
A brief but historic return for an encore
The legendary founder of the band will be limited to a single performance during the show's encore. The musician specified that they will not play the classic “Highway Star“, as it is the band's opening song on their current North American tour in support of their new album “SPLAT!“.
Although Ritchie Blackmore has not played live rock music for years and has dedicated himself to his acoustic project Blackmore's Night, he is already preparing his equipment. The guitarist humorously admitted that he changed the strings on his iconic Fender Stratocaster for the first time in 25 years and hopes that the speakers will boost his small 50-watt amplifier so that he can successfully partner with the band's current guitarist Simon McBride.
Blackmore last played with Deep Purple in November 1993, when he left the band in the middle of a European tour after years of creative and personal friction with his colleagues. The current reunion ends a decade of silence and becomes one of the most important moments in the history of world rock music.