Ian Gillan
(born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. [1] During his career Gillan had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath and sang the role of Jesus Christ in the original concept recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar
.
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IAN GILLAN TICKETS
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Early life
His father was a storekeeper at a factory in London. He grew up moving between council flats before settling in a three-bedroom semi-detached on a council estate in Cranford, Hounslow.
[2]
Career
Early years
Between 1962 and 1964 he was in a band called The Javelins. He then joined Wainwright's Gentlemen until 1965. Minor success was achieved with
Episode Six between 1965 and him joining Deep Purple in 1969.
Deep Purple
After Deep Purple members
Jon Lord and
Ritchie Blackmore saw one of his lead vocal performances with Episode Six, he was later approached to replace
Rod Evans in Deep Purple.
Gillan was a member of
Deep Purple from 1969 through to 1973, appearing on such now-classic Deep Purple albums as
In Rock
,
Fireball
,
Machine Head
,
Made In Japan
and
Who Do We Think We Are
. During these years, he also was the voice of Jesus on the original 1970 album recording of
Jesus Christ Superstar. He was offered the lead role in
the 1973 film adaptation. Ian demanded not only to be paid for his role in the movie but insisted, without the consent of his manager, that the entire band be paid because filming would conflict with a scheduled tour. The producers declined and Ian continued on in the band.
[3]
Relationship with Blackmore
Gillan was room-mates with Deep Purple guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, and in a 2006 interview Gillan said Blackmore "turned into a weird guy and the day he walked out of the tour was the day the clouds disappeared and the day the sunshine came out and we haven't looked back since."
He added that "there are certain personal issues that I have with Ritchie, which means that I will never speak to him again. Nothing I'm going to discuss publicly, but deeply personal stuff."
In March 2009, he claimed that prior to the 1993 reunion of the band, Blackmore had requested 250 thousand dollars to be deposited in his bank account in order to continue with the reunion. The other members of the band did not receive anything.
[4] This claim was subsequently denied by Blackmore's solicitor in a statement released soon after.
[5]
Rejoining
He rejoined a reunited Deep Purple in early 1984, recording the highly-acclaimed comeback album
Perfect Strangers
. He was sacked in 1989, but rejoined in 1992 to record the album
The Battle Rages On
. During the 1993 tour for this album, Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for good. The rest of Deep Purple carried on, eventually replacing Blackmore with
Steve Morse, and Gillan remains in the band to the present day.
Away from Deep Purple
Namesake groups
After his first departure from Deep Purple, Gillan retired from performing to pursue business ventures. However, encouraged by his reception at the
Butterfly Ball in 1975, he decided to resume his singing career. He formed the
Ian Gillan Band. The early band sound had a distinct
jazz-rock aspect which proved unpopular and was replaced by a more high powered
hard rock sound as Gillan changed the lineup and shortened the group's name to
Gillan. Writing the bulk of new material with keyboardist
Colin Towns, the release of
Mr. Universe
saw Ian Gillan back in the UK charts, although the independent record company the album came out on - Acrobat - folded soon after the album was released, prompting a contract with
Richard Branson's
Virgin Records. Through several more lineup changes the band released a string of UK hit singles and successful albums including
Glory Road
,
Future Shock
,
Double Trouble
, and finally
Magic
.
In 1982 Ian Gillan announced the band would fold as he needed to rest his damaged
vocal cords. The tone and style of his singing changed considerably when he eventually returned. His voice had a more nasal tone and this can be heard on albums he has made from 1983 to the present day. His use of
multi tracking backing vocals also became highly prominent.
Black Sabbath
In 1983 he joined
Black Sabbath (replacing
Ronnie James Dio) for a year to record the
Born Again
album and
tour (on which Black Sabbath played the Deep Purple standard "
Smoke on the Water" as an encore).
[6] He was largely dissatisfied with his stint in Sabbath, notably the final mix of the
Born Again
album (though he liked the songs and their original mixes), and its cover, which featured a demonic-looking baby. He was quoted in
Kerrang!
in 1984 as saying "I looked at the cover and puked." In an interview on Part 2 of the VHS,
The Black Sabbath Story
(1992), he said, "I was the worst singer Black Sabbath ever had..." However, he stated in the same interview that he liked the members of Sabbath personally: "I love
Tony, love
Geezer."
2000s solo activity
In June 2004 Gillan performed guest lead vocals on Smokescreen as part of Dean Howard - Volume One. Dean Howard (T'pau/Gillan/Repo Depo) co wrote some of the material that went towards Gillan's Dreamcatcher album.
In April 2006 Gillan released a CD/multimedia project to document his 40-year career called
Gillan's Inn
.
Tony Iommi,
Jeff Healey,
Joe Satriani,
Dean Howard, as well as current and former members of Deep Purple such as Jon Lord,
Roger Glover,
Ian Paice,
Don Airey and
Steve Morse are featured on this 2006 CD and
DVD. The project includes a re-recorded selection of his Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and solo tracks. It was produced by Nick Blagona. In a recent interview, Gillan announced that his solo albums from the 1970s and 1980s would be re-issued late in 2006 through the Demon record company. These albums began to be released in early 2007.
Also, on September 11, 2006, Ian Gillan promoted the
Gillan's Inn
tour by having local guitarists compete through local radio stations to play on stage with the band during the famous song "Smoke on the Water". The promotion was titled "Smoke This!". On the September 11th show, Lars Ulrich from the band Metallica joined Ian Gillan on stage for the song "Smoke on the Water" along with the local contest winner David Gizzarelli. Joe Satriani was scheduled to join the lineup as well, but was called to the studio for last minute revisions.
In 2006 a single called
Eternity
was released for the Japanese
Xbox 360 game
Blue Dragon
, composed by
Nobuo Uematsu and featuring the vocals of Gillan. That same song was reused in the fan-made, freeware RPG game
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden for battles against VinceBorg2050 (a combination of
cyborg &
Vince Carter). The
Eternity
file in the Barkley game music folder is labeled "jesus christ the guy from deep purple sang this".
On 2 April 2007, Gillan released a DVD
Highway Star: A Journey In Rock
. The DVD has 6 hours of footage including documentaries and music clips.
In June 2007, he sang with the group Sed Nove and
Ann Wilson in the Festival of Music in Paris.
In February 2008 Gillan released a double live album on Edel Records,
Live in Anaheim
that features Gillan and Deep Purple classic songs and several rarities. A companion DVD was released in May 2008.
He released a new studio album entitled
One Eye to Morocco in March 2009.
Personal life
thumb national wedding costumes during Gillan's 1990 visit to
Tbilisi,
Georgia
Family
In 1984, Gillan married Bron, his girlfriend, to whom Ian had dedicated the melancholic "Keep It Warm" from
Black Sabbath's 1983 album
Born Again
. They have twice since renewed their marriage vows. The couple have one daughter, Grace. Gillan currently lives in the
English coastal town of
Lyme Regis in
Dorset.
[7]
Gillan's mother, Audrey Parkinson, often visits him while he is touring with Deep Purple in the
United Kingdom. She can often be seen sitting to the side of the stage.
Other
He is a passionate football fan, supporting
Queens Park Rangers F.C. He is also a big fan of cricket.
[8]
Gillan is well-known for his intolerance of aggressive crowd security personnel at concerts. On
August 15,
1998, he was charged with assault after striking a security guard on the head with a microphone.
[9]
In 2004, he was banned from driving for being twice over the legal alcohol limit. He was banned from driving for 16 months and fined £500.
[10] [11]
His surname is often misspelled as "Gillian". Gillan himself made light of this in the lyrics to "MTV", a track from Deep Purple's 2005 album
Rapture of the Deep.
Discography
With Episode Six
- Put Yourself In My Place
(1987)
- BBC Radio 1 Live 1998/1969
(1997)
- The Complete Episode Six
(1991)
- Cornflakes and Crazyfoam
(2002)
- Love, Hate, Revenge
(2005)
:
Compilation albums of songs recorded between 1965 and 1969
With Deep Purple
Studio albums
Numerical values indicate highest position achieved in the United Kingdom album charts.
- Deep Purple in Rock
#4 (1970)
- Fireball
#1 (1971)
- Machine Head
#1 (1972)
- Who Do We Think We Are
#4 (1973)
- Perfect Strangers
#5 (1984)
- The House of Blue Light
#10 (1987)
- The Battle Rages On
#21 (1993)
- Purpendicular
#56 (1996)
- Abandon
#75 (1998)
- Bananas
#81 (2003)
- Rapture of the Deep
#88 (2005)
Live albums
- Concerto for Group and Orchestra
(1969)
- Made in Japan
(1972)
- Deep Purple in Concert
(1980) (Live 1970 & 1972)
- Scandinavian Nights
(1988) (Live 1970)
- Nobody's Perfect
(1988)
- In the Absence of Pink
(1991) (Live 1985)
- Gemini Suite Live
(1993) (Live 1970)
- Live in Japan
(1993) (Live 1972)
- Come Hell or High Water
(1994)
- Live at the Olympia '96
(1997)
- Total Abandon: Live in Australia
(1999)
- The Soundboard Series
(2001)
- Live at the Royal Albert Hall
(2000)
- Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy
(2001)
- Live in Europe 1993
(2006)
- Live at Montreux 1996
(2006) (Live 1996 & 2000)
- They All Came Down To Montreux
(2007)
As Ian Gillan Band (1975-78) and Gillan (1978-82)
- Child in Time
(1976)
- Clear Air Turbulence
(1977)
- Scarabus
(1977)
- Live at the Budokan
(1977, EUR: 1983)
- Gillan
(aka The Japanese Album
) (1978)
- Mr. Universe
#11 (UK) (1979)
- Glory Road
#3 (UK) (1980)
- Future Shock
#2 (UK) (1980)
- Double Trouble
(live) #12 (UK) (1981)
- Magic
#17 (UK) (1982)
With Black Sabbath
Solo
- What I Did On My Vacation
(1986, compilation)
- Accidentally on Purpose
(1988, with Roger Glover)
- Chris Tetley Presents: Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners
(1989/2000)
- Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners Live at the Ritz
(1990, VHS)
- Naked Thunder
(1990, US: 1997)
- Toolbox
(1991, US: 1997)
- Cherkazoo and Other Stories
('73/'75 solo sessions) (1992)
- Dreamcatcher
(1997, US: 1998)
- Gillan's Inn
(2006, Deluxe Tour Ed.: 2007)
- Live in Anaheim 2006
(2008, CD/DVD)
- One Eye to Morocco
(2009)
With The Javelins
- Sole Agency and Representation
(1994)
Guest Appearances
- Jesus Christ Superstar
(1970)
- Rock Aid Armenia
(1990)
- Pretty Maids - In Santa's Claws
(1990)
- The Bolland Project - Darwin The Evolution
(1991)
- Mihalis Rakintzhs - Getaway
(1993)
- Ray Slijngaard & Ian Gillan - Smoke On The Water Rock 'N' Rap Extravaganza
(1998)
- Jill Towers - Welcome to Dreamfields
(1999)
- Dean Howard - Volume One
(2004)
- Rock School - Movie Soundtrack
(2005)
- Leslie West - Guitarded
(2005)
- Blue Dragon - Video Game Soundtrack
(2006)
- Michael Lee Jackson - In a Heartbeat
(2006)
- Hoochie Coochie Men & Jon Lord - Danger. White Men Dancing
(2007)
Books
- Gillan, Ian (1980), Candy Horizon
, book of poems
- Gillan, Ian (1998), Ian Gillan: The Autobiography of Deep Purple's Lead Singer
. Blake Pub, ISBN 1857823206. (2nd ed./1st ed. - 1993)
- Gillan, Ian (2006), Smoke This!: The Warblings, Rants, Philosophies, and Musings from the Singer of Deep Purple
. Immergent, ISBN 0978825403.
References
- 7 Ages of Rock - BBC.co.uk
- Deep Purple's Ian Gillan talks money - Telegraph.co.uk
- Child In Time: An Interview With Ian Gillan
- Rockpages.gr interview with Ian Gillan
- Ritchie Blackmore replies... - Rockpages.gr
- Bev Bevan: The Black Sabbath diaries - Sunday Mercury
- Rocker backs road protest - Dorset Echo
- Famous Fan: Ian Gillan - BBC Sport Online
- Deep Purple man on assault charge - BBC News Online
- Dorset Daily Echo - Rock star gets 16 month ban
- Telegraph.co.uk - Driving ban for rock veteran