HARD ROCK
FORUM
Post by Monsters of Rock on Sept 16, 2023 17:53:30 GMT 10
When the "Voice of Rock," Glenn Hughes, came to our studio, we knew we couldn’t pass on the chance to get some insight into the notoriously tumultuous state of the MK III and IV lineups of Deep Purple. The band’s history is rich with rock ‘n’ roll excess, a notion Hughes readily confirmed.
The dissolution of the band famously saw co-lead singer David Coverdale reportedly hand in his resignation in tears after touring in support of Come Taste the Band (the first record with new guitarist Tommy Bolin), only to be told there was no band left to even resign from. When we asked former Deep Purple bassist and co-lead vocalist Hughes if there was any one singular event that broke the back of the band, he provided quite the soundbite as he himself said before succinctly summing up the reasons behind the group's demise in 1976.
One of the biggest bands in the world in the early-to-mid-‘70s, Deep Purple's live reputation was one of sheer, unrelenting force and an elite level of musicianship, wrapped in a carefree attitude that exemplified what made the band so edgy and dangerous. Hughes backed up this sentiment, saying, “If you were on the Deep Purple stage, you were going to be — if you were close to the stage or on the stage and not a band member there was a possibility you would’ve been hit with a guitar or you would have been soaked with gasoline.”
Hughes battled heavy drug addiction between 1977 and 1991 after the band broke up. We asked the legend, who was only in his early 20s when he joined the band, if the substance abuse was a coping mechanism for having achieved rock superstardom. Responding to this, he detailed what fuelled his drug use and the trappings that allowed him to fall into these habits.
Loudwire
The dissolution of the band famously saw co-lead singer David Coverdale reportedly hand in his resignation in tears after touring in support of Come Taste the Band (the first record with new guitarist Tommy Bolin), only to be told there was no band left to even resign from. When we asked former Deep Purple bassist and co-lead vocalist Hughes if there was any one singular event that broke the back of the band, he provided quite the soundbite as he himself said before succinctly summing up the reasons behind the group's demise in 1976.
One of the biggest bands in the world in the early-to-mid-‘70s, Deep Purple's live reputation was one of sheer, unrelenting force and an elite level of musicianship, wrapped in a carefree attitude that exemplified what made the band so edgy and dangerous. Hughes backed up this sentiment, saying, “If you were on the Deep Purple stage, you were going to be — if you were close to the stage or on the stage and not a band member there was a possibility you would’ve been hit with a guitar or you would have been soaked with gasoline.”
Hughes battled heavy drug addiction between 1977 and 1991 after the band broke up. We asked the legend, who was only in his early 20s when he joined the band, if the substance abuse was a coping mechanism for having achieved rock superstardom. Responding to this, he detailed what fuelled his drug use and the trappings that allowed him to fall into these habits.
Loudwire
