Top 10 Metal Musicians Discovered by Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore was the mastermind behind two legendary bands related to heavy metal - Deep Purple and Rainbow.He was also the most influential metal musician back then - much more influential than most of the current metalheads can imagine. Apart from his musical influence, he was a very influential hunter of metal talents - almost all metal musicians he discovered in Deep Purple and Rainbow, were hired later by Black Sabbath, Ozzy and Dio.
Maestro Blackmore didn't work officially as a recruitment agent for Black Sabbath and Ozzy but yeah, look at the people below...
Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona; July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal singer, songwriter and musician. He fronted and/or founded numerous groups including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell. He is credited with popularizing the "metal horns" hand gesture in metal culture and is known for his medieval themed lyrics. Dio possessed a powerful versatile vocal range capable of singing both hard rock and lighter ballads; according to Rainbow/Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore upon hearing him sing, "I felt shivers down my spine." Dio sold over 47 million albums throughout his career.
He died from stomach cancer in 2010 at the age of 67. Dio band Elf was an opening act for Deep Purple and Ritchie Blackmore liked Dio voice. When Deep Purple disbanded, Ritchie Blackmore started Rainbow with Dio and the whole metal world heard Dio's amazing voice. The rest is known.
Recalling his first impressions, Ritchie Blackmore said about Dio: "I felt shivers down my spine". So true - me, too.
Ian Gillan is an English singer and songwriter. He originally found success as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple, and the original singer on the rock opera concept album Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber, where Gillan had the leading role (Jesus Christ). Gillan created the metal singing style for clean vocals - the combination of wide vocal range (he had 4 octaves), power, screams and operatic style. Without Gillan, we wouldn't have Bruce Dickinson. And without Bruce Dickinson we wouldn't have any of the best metal singers around.
Ian Gillan also did the lead vocals on a Black Sabbath album (Born Again, 1983).
@zxm - yes, I wasn't sure about Ian Paice and this was the reason I didn't add Paice to this list. Maybe Jon Lord met Paice first but Ritchie was the main decision-maker and without his consent new members couldn't join the bands.
Yes, most of these legends were discovered by him. While as I remember Ian Paice was kinda discovered by Jon Lord. Not sure though.
By the way, who was the leader of the band. Ritchie or Jon?
James Stewart "Jimmy" Bain was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He played bass on the legendary Rainbow album 'Rising'.
Jimmy deserves more credits - he was a central figure in Dio the band because he was also involved in songwriting and contributed with music ideas to some of their best songs.
Colin Trevor "Cozy" Powell was an English rock drummer, who made his name with many major rock bands and artists like The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Robert Plant, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath. A great metal drummer, in fact the metal greats in drumming began with him - he was a very fast and technical beast behind the kit. He played on the Rainbow album 'Rising' (1976). Try: Rainbow - A light in the Black, Stargazer.
Donald Smith "Don" Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, after the retirement of Jon Lord. Don't forget Jethro Tull! What a legend.
He replaced Jon Lord in Deep Purple in 2002.
Robert John "Bob" Daisley is an Australian musician, songwriter and author. Daisley is also known for contributing bass and lyrics for Ozzy Osbourne throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He's a bassist, backing vocalist, lyricist and songwriter, hired by Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow.
I've heard many times that Ozzy had a successful solo career. But there is something else - behind Ozzy's solo career was mostly Bob Daisley, esp. after Randy Rhoads death. Bob wrote most of the lyrics and music for Ozzy's band (songs like "Mr. Crowley", etc) but his achievements are always attributed to Ozzy. Bob Daisley also worked for Black Sabbath.
Joe Lynn Turner is an American singer, known for his works with hard rock/metal bands Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple. The best Yngwie songs are with Joe Lynn Turner on the vox: Rising Force, Dreaming
Glenn Hughes is an English rock bassist and vocalist, best known as a member of Deep Purple and the rock pioneers Trapeze, and his solo career. Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple. He is acclaimed for his wide vocal range. He was a bassist and backing vocalist in Deep Purple but did lead vocals for Black Sabbath (1986 album).
Graham Bonnet is an English rock singer and songwriter. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, the Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. Dio could not be replaced, but Graham Bonnet did a damn good job. He would later found Alcatrazz, the band that would introduced Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai to the world.
Agree, Graham Bonnet is a damn good singer, with one of the loudest voices I have ever heard.
Keyboardist on Rainbow Rising. He was so good Blackmore kicked him out of the band because he was afraid his keyboard playing would overshadow his own guitar playing.
Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock/metal vocalist, who has sung for Rainbow, La Paz, Midnight Blue, Cornerstone, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Mantis and Rata Blanca . He is currently the vocalist for the Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, his original band La Paz and Demon's Eye . In the 90s he had auditioned for Iron Maiden, losing out to Blaze Bayley . Technically, he was discovered by Ritchie's wife Candice but it was Ritchie who gave Doogie the chance to shine. In the early 90s Doogie sent a demo tape to Ritchie which sat in a box for a few years but Candice liked the demo and gave it to Ritchie. So in 1995 Rainbow released an album after 12 years of silence. Try the songs: Hall of the Mountain King, Cold Hearted Woman.
Excellent singer who was considered for Bruce Dickinson replacement in Iron Maiden in the 90s (but they hired Blaze and maybe made a mistake).
David Coverdale is an English rock singer most famous for his work with Whitesnake, the commercially successful hard rock band he founded in 1978. Before Whitesnake, Coverdale was the lead singer of Deep Purple from late 1973 to 15 March 1976, when he resigned from the band and established his solo ...read more.Ronnie Romero - Lords Of Black