Ritchie Blackmore’s wife reveals he had a heart attack a year ago

Ritchie Blackmore, the legendary original Deep Purple guitarist and Rainbow founder suffered a heart attack about a year ago and now has six stents. The information was shared by his wife and bandmate Candice Night in an interview with Total Rock. They have been together since the early 90s and they formed Blackmore’s Night together more than two decades ago to play neo-medieval folk songs.

Ritchie Blackmore’s wife reveals he had a heart attack a year ago

“As far as flying anywhere right now, Ritchie (Blackmore) has actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane. He had a heart attack about a year and a half ago. He’s got six stents. And I can’t believe he’s gonna be 80 on April 14th, which is crazy, but he doesn’t look it, still doesn’t act it. But eventually medical things wind up catching up with you. So we’ve gotta make sure we keep him happy and healthy. And he’s dealing with gout and some arthritic things.”

“Of course, his back has always been an issue for years. So it’s getting harder for him — it’s tricky — but, hey, I’ve seen people younger than him in wheelchairs on stage doing what they do. So I think he probably doesn’t want people to see him that way. I see the other perspective — from a fan’s perspective, I would think people would just be happy to be under the same roof with him and listen to him play whatever he comes up with.”

“So, we kind of have this discussion, or argument — I’ll say discussion — all the time. [Laughs] But he was just recently at his cardiologist and they said, ‘Let’s put traveling by plane on hold.’ So, hopefully we’ll get that all straightened out and that’ll change. But I’ll let you guys know if it does,” Candice Night said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).

Blackmore’s Night next tour dates

April

• 10 – The Odeum – Greenwich, RI
• 12 – Bergen PAC – Engelwood, NJ
• 24 – Colonial Theater, Phoenixville, PA
• 27 – The Vogel – Red Bank, NJ

May

• 3 – Bethel Woods, Bethel, NY