Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan has said he does not consider his band heavy metal, and that he has even turned down awards in the genre.
“`In a new interview with The Chap magazine, he was asked to choose between the terms «heavy rock» and «hard rock». «I prefer hard rock. Only because heavy rock was the next step toward heavy metal», he replied.
He added that he has turned down heavy metal awards, even though friends of his belong to the genre, such as Black Sabbath and the Metallica guys. «We are very good friends, but that is not our thing», he said.
Gillan noted that the music he grew up with would hardly fit into the narrow categories of our time. He mentioned artists such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and the Everly Brothers, saying they would be immediately split into separate genres and radio stations.
In May 2026 he had made a similar comment to Planet Rock about «Smoke On The Water», saying that drummer Ian Paice’s playing is often misunderstood. «Everyone thinks it is a heavy hit, a heavy metal song. It is not», he said, recalling that Metallica’s Lars Ulrich played it with him in San Francisco without realising it needs a soft touch.
Gillan sang with Black Sabbath in 1983 and 1984, on the album «Born Again», which was also Bill Ward’s last studio album with the band.
Deep Purple released their 24th studio album, «Splat!», on 3 July 2026 via earMUSIC. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it reached No. 12 in the UK and No. 3 in Germany. In August, on their European tour, Ritchie Blackmore joined them on stage for the first time in more than three decades.
Gillan, who lives in Portugal’s Algarve region, will also head out on a spoken word tour titled «Talking Gib’rish», with 25 dates in England, Scotland and Wales from 28 April 2027.
See also: Ian Gillan: the secret to Deep Purple’s longevity and Deep Purple: they opened the European tour in Sofia.
Source: https://thechap.co.uk/ian-gillan-interview/
