Ritchie Blackmore not to attend RRHOF ceremony

Deep Purple has been fighting an uphill battle for years to get recognized by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for their contribution to rock music, and the news that Ritchie Blackmore won't be attending the ceremony honoring the band (which almost always includes a jam) saddens me tremendously.


This is what I posted on Audio Karma in response:


"So sad.

Steve Morse will never fill The Man's shoes. Nobody in the world plays the guitar so out of bounds (out of mode, abolishing every rule we as musicians cherish) than him, except maybe Frank Zappa when he goes into gnat-note mode.

I appreciate Blackmore's choice of notes much more now than ever before (only Mark 1 and 2 Purple, no Rainbow qualifies even remotely in this equation, nor later iterations of Purple).

He personifies icon. Forget his latest work too. Nothing touches his playing in early Purple, just pay attention to the live versions of anything before David Coverdale. This puts him in the rarified airspace dominated by Hendrix."


It's been said that he's recently had hand surgery, which would play in his decision not to attend in a big way, but there has been acrimony between the two camps for years.


No justice here, however you slice it. This is bad news for me, even with the diminishing returns of being in the Hall these days.