Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore Slams Today’s Music: “It’s Bloody Awful”

Lauren Novak December 10, 12:53 pm

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore performing with British rock group Rainbow, USA, May 1978 — Michael Putland/Getty Images

Ritchie Blackmore, best known as the founding member and the lead guitarist of Deep Purple, is standing by his musical taste. While it makes sense that he wouldn’t necessarily like music that most teens are obsessed with these days, he went a step further to bash certain artists.

He admitted that he isn’t happy with the current state of pop music and shared, “There are so many types of music that I like, but very rarely do I hear it on the radio. I’d rather hear talk radio about who’s the latest president… the stuff that bores people to death.”

“I think the crap that they’re playing on the radio today is bloody awful,” he added.

Ritchie Blackmore of the British band Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow performs live on stage during a concert at the Velodrom on April 18, 2018 in Berlin, Germany

Frank Hoensch/Redferns/Getty Images

Blackmore compared all pop artists to Taylor Swift and said that it was just hard for him to relate to the upbeat tunes. He continued that he feels “like an old Granddad complaining about the music they’re playing on the radio at the moment,” and misses music from the past. Even more modern rock isn’t doing it for Blackmore anymore.

So, what is he listening to? He explained, “I [listen] to old music from the 1500s [and] 1400s. I’ve also been listening to a few bands that I’ve become friends with in Germany, Czech, Finland and Sweden. They’re still playing music that really excites me.” He continued: “I listen to the old rock from the ’50s when it was fresh: Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore playing James Burton with Ricky Nelson, the Everly Brothers … ”

David Keith and Ritchie Blackmore of the British band Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow perform live on stage during a concert at the Velodrom on April 18, 2018 in Berlin, Germany

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He did reveal that he understands the pop music’s appeal and said, “It’s not ‘wrong.’ It’s the new generation, what they’re wanting to hear. That’s probably as great to them as the Beatles and Cream and Jimi Hendrix were to me, so I can’t really complain… but I do like to complain and I will complain.” Recently, Blackmore has been promoting some of his holiday music on his social media pages under his band Blackmore’s Night.