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Johnnie Bolin R.I.P.

Johnnie Bolin, Tommy’s brother, has passed away on September 5, 2024. He was known as a musician in his own right (played drums for Black Oak Arkansas since the mid-1980s), and an enthusiastic supporter of keeping his brother’s memory alive. A funeral service will be held at 2:00pm Saturday, September 14, 2024, at the Sioux […]

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Deep sense of gratitude

Roger Glover posts on his website a eulogy for the late Mick Underwood: Mick Underwood was a lovely man. I was deeply saddened to learn that he had died. It’s taken me a while to digest the news and put in perspective what he meant for Ian Gillan and me. When he joined Episode Six, […]

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Mick Underwood R.I.P.

[Updated] A prominent member of the Purple family, Mick Underwood has died on July 28, 2024, at the age of 78. In the early 1960s he played drums in The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore, then went on to join Episode Six along Ian Gillan and Roger Glover.

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Duane Eddy R.I.P.

Early rock’n’roll guitar pioneer Duane Eddy has passed away: Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, has died at age 86. Eddy died of […]

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Rest in peace, rocking abbot

One of the more unusual members of the extended Purple family has passed away. The ‘rocking abbot’ Notker Wolf has died on April 2, 2024, at the age of 83. In 2008, he arranged for Deep Purple to play a gig in the picturesque abbey courtyard in Benediktbeuern, Germany, just south of Munich. His own […]

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Dave Hodgkinson — gone, but not forgotten

David Hodgkinson, who has died aged 58, was a technologist, programmer, and software engineer. Quite possibly, he will be remembered more for his huge footprint in the online fan community for veteran British hard rockers Deep Purple. This is certainly the case for most readers of this obituary, published as it is on the website […]

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In memory of Janine Morse

Steve Morse writes in his website: Yesterday, February 4, at 2:40pm, I said my last goodbye to my beloved wife, Janine. We had been in a period of remission which lasted not nearly long enough. But luckily, I was able to spend virtually every day with her as she found workarounds to get through some […]

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Maria Moita author passes away

Our contributor from Brazil Marcelo Soares writes: Legendary bossa nova composer Carlos Lyra has died today, December 16, 2023, at the age of 90. You may not be a bossa nova fan, but you definitely have heard of at least one of his songs, Maria Moita — the riff, originally written by Tom Jobim for […]

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Mr. Udo RIP

The legendary Japanese concert promoter Seijiro Udo, widely known as ‘Mr. Udo’, has passed away at the age of 92. He was responsible for bringing Deep Purple to Japan for that historic tour in August 1972, and every subsequent visit of the band to that country. His company UDO Artists issued the following statement: It […]

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Endearingly laid back

Geir Myklebust reprints in his blog a heartfelt eulogy to Tommy Bolin penned by Geoff Barton for the December 11, 1976, issue of Sounds. HEARD ABOUT Tommy’s death last Sunday morning. The news hit hard and low. I hadn’t known him particularly well, but there was always — shall always be — a place for […]

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