Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan has discussed the possibility of retirement, and admitted that the band can offer no guarantees over their future.
For most bands of Deep Purple’s age, Gillan is turning 79 later this month, they are currently on a lucrative farewell tour or retired. However, the heavy rock titans have no plans to cash in on their careers as the thought of saying goodbye to making music or playing live is a too chilling thought to consider.
This year, Deep Purple have enjoyed a frantic year. In July, they released their latest album, =1, and have also begun a lengthy world tour with Yes, which is currently ongoing in amphitheatres across North America. In November, they’ll arrive in the United Kingdom for a series of headline shows, including at London’s O2 Arena.
While Gillan isn’t naive enough to believe that he’s got decades left of being able to record an album before hitting the road playing a relentless run of shows, he’s unwilling to retire while his health still allows him to live this lifestyle.
During a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Gillan said of retirement rumours: “But to answer your question: it is what it is. As soon as you start feeling unable to deliver at that level — of course, you adjust, of course, you adapt and make do the best you can. But when the energy level goes, that’s time to stop because then it gets embarrassing and nobody wants that. But so far, so good. I think that’s a much better title than what you just said.”
Gillan’s new comments align with remarks made by the band’s drummer, Ian Paice, in 2023, who told Zoom, “We have never planned a date to stop working. We are realists. The guys are getting older, and there’s gonna come a point where maybe one or two of us don’t want to do it anymore or (it’s) not physically possible for them to do it. But we don’t think about that. We’re still having a great deal of fun.”
Furthermore, while Paice accepted that playing live may become unfeasible in the next few years if mobility issues strike, he was confident that Deep Purple would still be able to record new albums.
He added: “I don’t think we’ll ever know what the last gig, what the last tour is. I think it’ll come and just smack us in the face. Unless there’s a definite plan, which there isn’t, to do something as a final bye-bye, I just think we’ll just go, ‘Sorry, guys. We’re finished. We can’t do it anymore. It’s been wonderful.’ But even then, I think if we stopped touring, there’s no reason why we couldn’t make more records.”
