Ritchie Blackmore reunited with Deep Purple onstage for the first time in 33 years on Wednesday 12 August 2026, performing the band’s classic “Smoke on the Water” at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York. The 81-year-old guitarist joined his former bandmates towards the end of their headline set, marking his first performance with Deep Purple since 1993.
The reunion had been teased by Blackmore the previous day, when he revealed that he planned to make a surprise appearance during the band’s encore.
Ritchie Blackmore joins Deep Purple for Smoke on the Water
Blackmore returned to the stage with Deep Purple to perform “Smoke on the Water”, the 1972 classic from the band’s landmark album Machine Head.
The guitarist’s appearance was met by a warm welcome from singer Ian Gillan, who described Blackmore as a founding member and “immortal” legend of the band.
“A couple of days ago, I got a message from a local lad, saying ‘I only live around the corner, do you mind if I come and jam with you?’ It was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founding member, the great legend, the immortal Ritchie Blackmore.”
The performance brought two of Deep Purple’s most recognisable original members back together onstage more than three decades after Blackmore’s final show with the band.
Blackmore kept the Deep Purple reunion a secret
Blackmore had revealed the planned appearance during an Instagram Live with his wife, Candice Night, on August 11.
The guitarist joked that the reunion was supposed to remain secret, although he clearly realised that announcing it publicly made that difficult.
“There is something we wanted to mention about tomorrow night… Well, it is a secret and I don’t want anybody to know, but I’m probably get up and do an encore with the band, Deep Purple. But you can’t tell anybody, and I know that this is gonna be kept a secret. And will it? I suppose so.”
Blackmore explained that he had contacted Gillan to ask if he could join Deep Purple for a single song.
He jokingly described his method of contacting the singer as sending an “AI pigeon” to Gillan, who lives in Portugal.
“I actually called up… I didn’t call him up, I sent my AI pigeon to [Deep Purple singer] Ian Gillan in Portugal, where he lives at the moment. And I said, ‘How would you feel about if I got up just for an encore? Just one of the songs. I don’t want to intrude.’ And I said, ‘No pressure – just kind of [for] old times’ sake.’ I’m 81 now. So he seemed to love the idea, put it to the band, got a thumbs up, and it looks like we might be doing that.”
Gillan and the rest of Deep Purple subsequently agreed to the appearance.
Blackmore returned to rock after 25 years
The reunion represented a major change of pace for Blackmore, who has spent much of the past 25 years performing Renaissance and folk-influenced music with Blackmore’s Night rather than playing hard rock.
He had even prepared his equipment for the one-off performance, changing the strings on his Stratocaster for the first time in 25 years.
Before the concert, Blackmore said:
“I have not played rock music in 25 years… it’ll be good to see the old guys again.”
He had previously indicated that the appearance would be limited to a single song, making the decision to perform “Smoke on the Water” particularly fitting given Blackmore’s role in creating the original recording.
Ritchie Blackmore’s health before Deep Purple reunion
Blackmore’s return to the Deep Purple stage came after a period in which health problems had affected his ability to perform.
He previously discussed suffering a severe vertigo attack in late 2025, which forced him to cancel shows. He has also spoken about gout, arthritis affecting his fingers and feet, and previous heart problems.
Despite those difficulties, Blackmore was keen to see his former bandmates and perform rock music again.
He had also explained why he wanted fans to know about the planned reunion in advance.
“a lot of people would like to see that”
Blackmore stressed that the appearance was intended to be brief.
“It’s just the one song, I think.”
Ritchie Blackmore’s history with Deep Purple
Blackmore was a founding member of Deep Purple and played on some of the band’s most influential records, including Deep Purple In Rock, Machine Head and Made In Japan.
He first left the group in 1975, later forming Rainbow. He returned to Deep Purple in 1984 but departed again during the band’s 1993 tour.
His final performance with Deep Purple before the 2026 reunion took place in 1993, making the Jones Beach appearance his first time sharing a stage with the band in 33 years.
