At the age of 80, Ian Gillan continues to tour with Deep Purple and they already have many scheduled tour dates for 2026. However, in an interview with Uncut, the singer revealed that he is facing some health issues, including the fact that he now has only 30 percent of his vision. For the first time, that has made him consider Deep Purple’s retirement in the near future.
Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan says he has only 30% of his vision
“It’s one of those things. I’ve only got 30 per cent vision. That won’t get better. It makes life mysterious. The hardest thing is working on my laptop. I can’t see anything on the screen unless I use my peripheral vision – I pick up a line by looking at it sideways. But you find a way. You adapt. But it’s achingly tiresome. It takes a long time to do the work.”
“It’s hilarious this growing old thing. It’s a laugh a minute. Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. I walk down the road and hear something drop off – clang, there’s something else gone.” Nothing’s changed really apart from I can’t pole vault any more. Other than that, things move a little more slowly. But nothing’s changed.
“If you’ve got a sense of humour, you can get by with most things. (Retirement) isn’t far off. I think if I lose my energy I’m going to stop. I don’t want to be an embarrassment to anyone. We’re not far off that. It creeps up on you – you don’t really notice. But then this isn’t like a normal job. It’s all in your mind. The writing certainly is, and the ability. And these guys who I work with just seem to keep improving. The hard thing is to keep them down,” Ian Gillan said.
Ian Gillan is the singer with whom Deep Purple has been most successful. He joined the band in 1969, leaving in 1973, returning from 1984 to 1989 and since 1992 has been fronting the group. Besides him, the current line-up has Ian Paice (Drums), Don Airey (Keyboards), Roger Glover (Bass) and Simon McBride (Guitar).