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Bop till you drop
On August 26, 2025, Roger Glover has appeared on the satellite radio SiriusXM show Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk. Blabbermouth has some quotes of what he said.
Well, I see a lot of bands doing the farewell tour or the farewell gig — BLACK SABBATH just did it recently, and other people have done it before — but it doesn’t appeal to me, and I don’t think the rest of the band either. To actually put a date on the final [show], now where’s it gonna be? The pressure is too great. I’d much rather just play and play and play, and suddenly we’re not playing. We don’t need to go out with a fanfare — I don’t think, anyway. It’s possible other people disagree with me, but that’s my feeling.
Quite a few years ago now, at the start of ‘The Long Goodbye’, [then-PURPLE guitarist] Steve Morse, he said, ‘Why don’t we finish on a high and name the last tour and we’d make a lot of money because it’s the last tour and then kiss it goodbye?’ And that didn’t go down well with the band, which is why we called it ‘The Long Goodbye’, because we knew it was gonna happen sometime, but, of course, we didn’t know it was gonna go on and on and on. And thankfully so.
This year is a bit of an off year. We’ve been writing and stuff, and there’ll probably be an album next year. And the last — actually, the last two or three years have been so busy. We haven’t stopped touring and working. So it’s good to have a little bit of a breather.
Read more in Blabbermouth.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Too bad this “little bit of a breather” came too late for Steve. I miss him very much in DP.
September 10th, 2025 at 08:54But I think both Steve and DP are happy where they are now and there will be a new abum by the SMB, I just can’t wait!
I’m happy they are going the Rolling Stones route. 😁
September 10th, 2025 at 11:40That’s why we love our boys. They put music over business and money and take it step by step, without big announcements. Because of that, they are not as commercially successful as they could be, but they are artistically relevant. This is also a fully legitimate lineup of the band with 3/5 of the golden MkII on board. Compared to that, Sabbath and Zep are gone, Kiss and Aerosmith turned into clowns, Metallica became crooners of thrash metal etc. Our boys still rule.
September 10th, 2025 at 12:30Chris Charlesworth (author of the 1983 Deep Purple biography) mentioned on his website back in April of this year that he’d been helping Roger with his autobiography. Sounded good, until he mentioned they had started 3 years ago, and were currently up to 1984!
September 10th, 2025 at 14:24I hoped the the new release could be in the late 2025…
September 10th, 2025 at 14:43Anyway, Morse disbanded DP because was tired of long tours, not only for his wife..so goodbye ciao ciaoo 🖐
Is that another little dig at Steve ?
September 10th, 2025 at 15:30Hmm …not sure I like that
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zPv06HBSvh8&pp=ygUdc3RldmUgbW9yc2UgYmFuZCBicmVha3Rocm91Z2g%3D
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m6W9MauE-YE&pp=ugMGCgJpdBABugUEEgJpdMoFC3N0ZXZlIG1vcnNl0gcJCbIJAYcqIYzv2AcB
September 10th, 2025 at 15:34😂 At this rate, their last – posthumously released of course – live album will be called “Die With Your Boots On!”
https://images.nightcafe.studio/ik-seo/jobs/TTE0EfHccwFoLpLKraBQ/TTE0EfHccwFoLpLKraBQ–1–wjhaz_7.8125x/horror-zombie-face-thundercloud-in-the-purple-skies-a-masterpiece-8k-resolution-dark-fantasy-concept.jpg?tr=w-1600,c-at_max
I must say I share a lot of sympathy for Roger’s low key approach. That Steve M wanted an “event” to close down matters is not unusual for someone from the other side of the pond where a certain amount of drama is generally welcomed (—> Steven Spielberg), but given how often Roger retells the tale it must have really rubbed the others the wrong way though I’m sure Steve meant no ill with it.
September 10th, 2025 at 16:04Thanks QuelloCheHaRagione, a new Morse album in November called Triangulation then!
September 10th, 2025 at 16:39So it is not late’25 any more
September 10th, 2025 at 18:17Well, at last, not for that least relevant, we know what seems to be the actual reason for Steve’s (short but true) goodbye. I’ll always love his skills, he’s a master, maybe -technically speaking (not that I have a clue of playing guitar)- even better than Ritchie (although Ritchie’s, and always will be, unbeatable. By no one), but if what Roger says is really how it went, I don’t like that attitude, not at all. Maybe is just what Uwe (@8) says, people-“from the other side of the pond” ‘s ways “to close down matters,” and maybe (think so) these usually subtle “isues” between UK and US people never led go for good. I think this second reason (of which the first one would be only the final step) was the true reason that led to the final of MARK VIII, being the terribly sorrowfull personal circumstances arround Steve only the catalist for the inevitable.
September 10th, 2025 at 18:44The point is now we have a great NEW Mark, a great new album, a great new one on the way and a great new band that want to go on until the end. And this is all f****g great!
I think he’s thrown Steve under the bus there …I mean , he can’t defend himself can he !?
September 10th, 2025 at 20:24I just can’t imagine Steve saying anything like that !
All this spite from the other guys ( except Paicey ) is annoying me …it shouldn’t be like this 😪…and when you think about everything that Steve did for that band .
I sincerely hope this has been mis interpreted
#7 QuelloCheHaRagione:
Thanks for the link to the video, but how boring….if this is what Steve does in 2025 Ritchie was much fresher in 1997 with Blackmore’s night in comparison.
Steve, like all of Guitar Hero, has been living off self-indulgence for the past 20 years, I much more appreciate Neal Schon’s amazing fusion records from decades past.
September 10th, 2025 at 20:38I don’t understand what RG’s big deal is. Why not have a final show? 2 of the guys are in their 80s and lets face it yes they can play nice now and then but they are nowhere near as dynamic as they were even going back 10-15 years. Isn’t their something to be said going out and giving those fans a one time shot to see them? I have more respect for groups stopping like Rush who said enough was enough and haven’t done anything since they stopped, as opposed to bands continuing to play on when they are clearly past their prime. How bad was it to see Moody Blues with their drummer (forgot his name) barely able to hit the drums and continuing to play – who wants to see that? IP isn’t quite there yet but his energy has been waning and IG can sing some songs well but can’t do the fast songs justice anymore. I suppose they will continue to play as long public continues to pay. Self dignity at some point needs to show-up.
September 10th, 2025 at 22:19@ 3- “That’s why we love our boys. They put music over business and money and take it step by step, without big announcements.” Except for the year 1984. And I also doubt that that is the reason Purple are not the latest fad and have not been for along time. No band from that era is. Well, except for the much over rated Strolling Bones. Cheers.
September 11th, 2025 at 05:07@ 14 – I agree in part to what you are saying, some good points there. However in regard to Rush, it was Neil Peart who retired and for good reasons, he had been warning the other two members for a few years prior. He was worn out, over it all, not Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson though. They would have kept going and they both lamented the fact that Peart retired. Regarding the Moody Blues, they did have a younger second drummer for many many years before they retired. But I do agree, they should have retired many years before they did as it was a pure nostalgic show, year after year after year. No new music at all. Age catches any of us lucky to live long enough. It is the roll of the dice. Some as the story implies, keep rocking till they drop, or words to that effect. Look at Lemmy with Motorhead, he was a sad figure indeed and could barely stay on stage for more than a few songs at a time from what I was reading. Pride and ego eh? The recent Ozzy and Black Sabbath charade was embarrassing in that aspect. The year off for the Purple sounds a little ominous. Father Time as we all know, waits for NO-ONE. Cheers
September 11th, 2025 at 08:22@14
Yeah CN, but this is Purple 🤩
Deep freaking Purple! 💥⚡️
I want them to go on until THEY decide to stop.
And you can’t deny that despite their physical age, they seem very vibrant and downbeat fantastic!
September 11th, 2025 at 08:43@11 Agree. I don’t think Roger mentioned Steve just to poke him. We don’t have all the details of what had happened at the time of Steve’s departure. Methinks Steve had not wanted to “leave” by walking out. He just no longer wanted be part of the exhausting tours. And then, being an American (add some drama, out with a bang, y’know), he saw nothing wrong with leaving all together, having one grand final tour with the one grand final show. Then he would quietly return to playing with SMB and taking care of his family. Great idea except the rest of the band, being British (empires never die, if you please) never bought it. Steve ended up by walking out reluctantly. So Roger’s version of the events seems plausible to me and not meant to insult Steve. Bother sides have a grain of truth in this debate.
September 11th, 2025 at 08:43I think Roger’s story is about Steve wanting a Long Goodbye Tour is a bunch of crapola!! In an interview in 2016 Paice said it was the band’s Idea as they were all becoming I’ll and knew it was coming to an end. In an interview with Classic Rock Magazine, Gillan said the idea came from the Front Office and promoters went along with it so they could sell more tickets!! I agree with Steve # 12.
September 11th, 2025 at 09:30Somehow when I read all this the Long Goodbye Tour business which I think has been going on for about a decade now. I picture a Blackmore circa 1984 telling Roger, ” I warned you I wouldn’t let that happen.” Very dryly ala Peter Cushing.
September 11th, 2025 at 12:11I think Roger’s approach is the way forward. I can see Steve’s point but it doesn’t seem right for a band that could feasibly carry on for a while yet. But I do think next year would be the time for a one off event with Ritchie, Glenn, Coverdale, Nick Simper, Steve M, all joining on stage doing something or other, with a big group hug at the end. Unlikely I know, but not as unlikely as in the past I think.
September 11th, 2025 at 12:34empires never die, if you please
😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbzRuZmqVM&t=6s
Especially not from some Yankee Doodle from the swamplands of the colony! 🤣
I just think that Steve’s fruitful time with DP had run its course. They’re mainly a touring band, he’s not really an international touring musician, he just adapted to that lifestyle as long as he had to and earned good money while doing it. Plus with the Mk II heaviness of the set in Mk VIII’s end phase, he was getting less and less of his compsitions heard in a live setting. If you’re Steve Morse, then the entertainment value of having to play Blackmore songs live eventually dwindles, I can understand that.
Steve often said he wanted to be if not the first guitarist of DP, then at least “the last” one, so I think its not unlikely that he was pushing for a joint ending of the band. He underestimated how much touring has beome a way of life for the other guys. Ritchie and Jon had tired of it too, but Roger, the two Ians and Don apparently never will. Separation was then the reasonable thing to do – it happens all the time that individual band members grow tired of the touring life after decades.
September 11th, 2025 at 15:24As usual, I think people are reading way too much into a quote. First of all, it is filtered through a journalist. Second, there is no one in the current band that would like to “throw someone under the bus”. These are adults, with better things to do than trash talk other human beings.
September 11th, 2025 at 15:26@21: Are you aware of how much work would go into such a thing? It’s not like calling up your mates and meet down the pub tomorrow evening. I don’t think anyone of the old DP members has an organisation behind them that have the resources, or can be arsed really, to do all that work.
September 11th, 2025 at 15:29Indefatigable voice of reason Svante is right: Preparation of such a thing and getting a setlist together plus rehearsing it properly would cost the current “living breathing DP” a year or so where they could do little else. They can’t afford that amount of time anymore just to pull off a one-off event.
September 11th, 2025 at 15:39@24
Svante this is why you and Nick are my favourite admin people 🙏🏼
September 11th, 2025 at 18:45@25 Exactly. Just lining up the plates full of spaghetti and sauce would take an enormous amount of effort.
September 11th, 2025 at 19:43#23 Svante:
I agree 100%
September 11th, 2025 at 21:22@14, as someone sometime already said here, dunno why some people think they are entiteled to say when others have to retire. “they can play nice now and then…” Oh boy, “You hit me with a cheap shot.”
September 11th, 2025 at 22:04A beast of an album, a great new guitar man, superb concerts (saw them in Madrid and Barcelona on 2024), and they are supose to retire because… what? They have more than gained the right to quit it when they want. And I wish they want it way ahead.
@22
Uwe, this:
“Steve often said he wanted to be if not the first guitarist of DP, then at least “the last” one, so I think its not unlikely that he was pushing for a joint ending of the band.”
– when did he say this? I’m not doubting you, but I’ve never read it 😊
And please stop with all these double negatives 😄 my brain is challenged enough already 😃
September 12th, 2025 at 05:05People – this is a true story (maybe)
A brunette goes into a doctor’s office and says that her body hurts wherever she touches it.
‘Impossible’, says the doctor, ‘show me’!
She takes her finger, presses on her elbow and screams in agony.
She pushes her knee and screams, pushes her ankle and screams, and so it goes on; everywhere she touches makes her scream with pain.
The doctor says, ‘you’re not really a brunette are you?’
She says, ‘no I dyed my hair, I’m a naturally blonde.’
‘I thought so’, he says, ‘your finger is broken’ .
🤓
May the weekend be filled with sun, warm and lovely coffee and may you all feel refreshed when Monday arrives 🤗😙
September 12th, 2025 at 05:32That joke, Karin … OUCH!!!
Steve said that sentence “I want to be DP’s last guitarist …” a couple of times, first I think in an interview with the Classic Rock magazine around Infinite in which he already sounded very somber about the band’s long term future and his physical ability to continue playing guitar. In a different wording (“I want to finish with the band …”) you also find it here:
https://blabbermouth.net/news/steve-morse-on-deep-purple-simon-mcbride-is-fitting-them-better-than-i-was
September 12th, 2025 at 12:34@29
Word!
September 12th, 2025 at 13:19