![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse.jpg)
Don Airey in the Hall of Heavy Metal History
Don Airey will be inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History. If you never heard of such hall, it is quite new — in fact, this is their first induction year — but quite ambitious. The induction ceremony will be held on January 18 at the Anaheim Expo Center, the day before NAMM opening. And Don is in a good company too: fellow inductees include Ronnie James Dio, Lemmy Kilminster, Randy Rhoads, Vinny Appice, and Rainbow Bar and Grill, among others.
Thanks to Nathan Sage for the heads up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Congratulazioni!!!!!!?
January 14th, 2017 at 18:03Not a flattering photo but congrats just the same.
January 14th, 2017 at 18:08Let’s hope it makes more sensible nominations and inductions that the Rock Hall of Fame.
January 14th, 2017 at 18:24Well deserved.
January 14th, 2017 at 18:45Congrats to Don. ?
great one
January 14th, 2017 at 18:48Your’re great keyboardist..
January 14th, 2017 at 19:18And when will Kanye be inducted? I guess it`s a matter of time…. 🙂
January 14th, 2017 at 20:08The stupidity of not inducting Don, Steve, Nick Simper and Tommy Bolin as members of Deep Purple in the Rock Hall astounds me!
January 14th, 2017 at 21:32Se lo merece….es un maestro y sucesor de Jon Lord. Felicidades Don
January 14th, 2017 at 22:13Hope Ken Hensley and Heep will be inducted one of these days.
January 14th, 2017 at 22:21YES ! A truly proven keyboard artist .
January 14th, 2017 at 22:23It’s an odd 1st class to be inducted. Mostly people who played with Ritchie Blackmore, Ozzy Ozborne, Toni Iommi, and Geezer Butler. But not those four. You’d think that the 1st class would be Sabbath, Purple, Zeppelin, Rainbow, and Priest, and then Iron Maiden and the big four thrash bands in year two.
January 14th, 2017 at 22:43Very cool Don, well deserved!! Still cherish the dinner we had together at the casino in Wendover Nevada. Excited for the new DP album. Thanks for all the music over the Years Don.
January 14th, 2017 at 23:16Don’s the best! Good for him! He deserves it!
January 15th, 2017 at 01:17Congrats. don don don DON! …singing the music of Beethoven’s 5th.
January 15th, 2017 at 01:19Here we go again….
Another WRONG. How is it that Sabbath and Priest are not first on the list? PERIOD!
JEEZ…
January 15th, 2017 at 01:28The Don , Airey
January 15th, 2017 at 02:26I cannot understand Airey being linked with so called ‘heavy metal’? Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoads on guitar are not metal, Rainbow & Deep Purple are not either! Still, the ‘purists’ out there like to keep banging on about ‘metal’ for some reason? The same people who classify Led Zeppelin as ‘metal’ no doubt! As Tony Iommi says, it is hard rock, not ‘heavy metal’! Simple really isn’t it? Cheers.
January 15th, 2017 at 03:10Nice one! It’s great he’s at last being recognised for his contribution in this field. Ozzy, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Michael Schenker – a large metal discography. I didn’t include Purple or Rainbow as I don’t believe them to be metal. Gary Moore was certainly heavy, and perhaps the odd song or two strayed in this category, but by and large it wasn’t really metal.
January 15th, 2017 at 11:22Congratulations, Don!
January 15th, 2017 at 11:25How is this any different from the R&RHOF?. Just another private business venture looking to make fast bucks off the backs of real musicians. They can keep their tickets… Viva la revolution!. Fuck ’em.
January 15th, 2017 at 12:20#18, Purple, Sabbath, & Zeppelin are heavily influential pioneers of metal music. There would be no heavy metal without them. You should look up Sam Dunn’s Definitive metal family tree and his Metal Evolution documentaries.
January 16th, 2017 at 23:26Let’s not nitpick about hard rock, heavy rock and heavy metal, there was a time when all three names were used at will for similar genres (hey, even the Heavy Metal Kids were not “heavy metal”, nor were Blue Öyster Cult, yet they flaunted that term to describe their music all the time in the 70ies, Grand Funk were deemed “heavy metal” by critics as were the MC5 until the advent of punk when they became all of the sudden godfathers of punk). Don Airey has played on more, uhum, “rock with a distorted guitar emphasis”-albums with a greater variety of bands (I should know, I have most of his sessions – a thankless task if there ever was one, he’s as bad as Glenn Hughes or Joe Lynn Turner!) than any other keyboard player I can think of – and that includes the usual suspects of Jon Lord, Ken Hensley etc. The induction is well-deserved.
January 17th, 2017 at 20:29In the early 70ies, Warner Brothers brought out a double album compilation entitled “Heavy Metal – 24 Electrifying Performances”, I had and treasured it, it introduced me to a lot of bands:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Heavy-Metal-24-Electrifying-Performances/release/1624466
The “heavy metal” merchants in question were:
MC5, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, The James Gang (with Bolin!), Deep Purple, T. Rex, J. Geils Band, Led Zeppelin, Dr. John, Buffalo Springfield, Faces, Doors, Allman Bros, Buffalo Springfield, Delaney & Bonnie, Uriah Heep, Golden Earring, Van Morrison, Eagles, Grateful Dead, Foghat, War, Blues Image and Yes!
Comprehensive enough for you? By that standard, good ole Don seems “reasonably heavy metal” to me. ; – )
January 17th, 2017 at 20:46It’s only rock ‘n roll
January 19th, 2017 at 05:37https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nza7WXKZDbs
Don’s acceptance speech and a backstage interview at The Hall Of Heavy Metal History last month.
February 1st, 2017 at 16:00https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZweU2UPlVW8