Ritchie Blackmore’s opinion on the current Deep Purple guitarist

The legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore finally reunited on stage with Deep Purple 33 years after his final show with the band. He played alongside his former bandmates Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice and Don Airey (Also ex-Rainbow). He also shared the stage with their current guitarist Simon McBride and gave his opinion on him.

Ritchie Blackmore’s opinion on the current Deep Purple guitarist

After the reunion, Blackmore talked about the experience and praised the guitarist saying he is very good. “It was very moving because I went on very quickly and had to play immediately. I couldn’t warm up, but I wasn’t there to be playing correct notes, I was there to see old friends. I hadn’t seen in 40 years. We are all getting older, I think we realized it could be the last time we see each other, maybe.”

“I woke up one morning thinking, the day before their show, ‘You know it would be good for the fans if I just got up for one song, probably ‘Smoke’ and just show that were not at each other’s throats and don’t hate each other’. Candice, my wife, got me in touch with Ian Gillan and I said, ‘What do you think about me getting up for ‘Smoke?’ His exact words were, ‘It made me smile.’ He then put it to the band and it was thumbs-up all around.”

“I had my misgivings at first, as I didn’t know if I would be heard or too quiet or whatever. I could see the guitarist (Simon McBride), who is very good, had a big amplifier, and I thought I’ll just bring a 50-watt amp, but luckily it all worked. It was tricky; I didn’t play anything too technical, as I felt I should stick to the rudiments of being simple. I still lost my place at one point, but it’s not why I was there.”

He continued:

“I was there to heal any wounds — but there weren’t any wounds. Everyone was like, we were in the army, all along the Western front and we were all getting together again. Very emotional moment,” Ritchie Blackmore said in an interview with Guitar Player. Simon was really happy to share the stage with the legendary musician and later recalled that he was very complimentary and said he admired his playing. “I just said to Ritchie, ‘I’ll be your rhythm guitar player today. Just do your thing.’ It was pretty cool. I got to stand on stage beside the guy who started this whole thing. Ritchie is a legend, a great player, and a great innovator. I think all musicians grew up listening to his work.”

“I was a little curious as to what he was gonna think of me. But he was a super-cool, nice guy. He was really complimentary, which was a shock to me. It’s very bizarre when these legends admire my playing. My head starts to explode! (laughs). It was a magical moment. I think there were a lot of tears in the audience. And on stage, there were just smiles everywhere. I’m very lucky to have been part of such an iconic situation,” Simon McBride told Guitar World. Over the decades Blackmore praised all the guitarists who replaced him in Deep Purple. He is a fan of the late Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse.

Simon McBride defended Ritchie Blackmore from critics of his performance

Facing some health issues at the age of 81, Ritchie Blackmore played really well with Deep Purple that night, but of course, there’s always someone on the internet ready to criticize and point out mistakes. During the same conversation with Guitar World, Simon went on to defend the guitar. “People will always say stupid things. I ignore that. Ritchie is in his 80s and plays great. He has health issues. If I can play that well when I’m that age, I’ll be happy.”

“People should look at it for what it was: a magical night. There’s a lot of history in this band. That show was a part of it. A reunion between old mates who haven’t seen each other in years. That was great. There were a lot of stories. It’s a little bit of closure for the guys. There’s a lot of history, and not all good. But they are older and wiser… it was great to see them close the door on all the negative history. As for me, I just wanted Ritchie to be happy and do his thing, which he did. Ritchie is and always will be a great player,” he said. After the performance, Simon posted a photo with Blackmore on social media and said: “My absolute pleasure to share the stage with this legend, such a great guy and an inspiration to all”.

The Ritchie Blackmore guitar part Simon said is the most difficult one to play

A member of Deep Purple since 2022, Simon McBride has already been part of two albums, “=1” (2024) and “SPLAT!” (2026). But of course, during live shows, most of the material played consists of the band’s legendary songs recorded with Ritchie Blackmore. Although he was a fan of the group and knew their material well, he faced some challenges when learning, especially the track “Lazy.”

“Most of it is actually not too bad (to learn). There’s one little lick which annoyed me for a long, long time, it’s in ‘Lazy’. I don’t play the same solo he plays in ‘Lazy,’ but ‘Lazy’ is one of those songs where I feel I can just improvise a bit more and just have a bit more fun with it.”

“But there’s this one lick he does in it, and I said, ‘I have to play that.’ And it’s a bitch of a lick. It’s not ultrafast. It’s just there’s a lot of chromatic stuff in it and slides in a very tight space, within three or four frets, and that’s it. So that, to me, is the hardest thing about playing Purple.”

He continued:

“Everything else, Ritchie was never really a full technician. So, nothing was really difficult to play technique-wise. Ritchie was more of a creative player. Even ‘Highway Star,’ the fast part in that, it’s fast, but it’s not John Petrucci from Dream Theater or something ridiculously fast. It’s fast, but it fits the song. But everything else that he played was more just melodies. Ritchie played for the song most of the time. But yeah, that lick in ‘Lazy’ — that still haunts me every night when I come up to it. I’m like, ‘Oh shit, don’t screw it up!” Simon McBride said in an interview with Ultimate Guitar in 2024.

Simon was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1979, when Deep Purple’s first phase had already ended and the band was inactive. He started his musical career in 1994 and recorded with bands like Sweet Savage, Don Airey & Friends and The Irish Rovers. He also released three studio albums, two live records and three singles as a solo artist.