![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse8.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse2.jpg)
He had his reasons
The following message from Ritchie Blackmore was posted today. November 23, 2025, on his Facebook page:
Ritchie would like to explain his reason for having to postpone the recent shows. “Very quick history, for those who have nothing better to do: I have a long history of lumbar and neck herniated discs. Consequently, I would have back injections before a tour to help me over the pain. Recently, I have acquired debilitating migraines. They come and go very quickly. When I see the visual disturbance of these ocular migraines, I know they are coming.
When we did the long drive from Pennsylvania to Newton, NJ, we were booked into a hotel that had a wedding party going all night in the corridors. There was no heat in the room and the sheets were still damp. Which I assume culminated in me having a severe migraine attack. I couldn’t stop vomiting. The room wouldn’t stop spinning, and I was extremely dizzy to the point of not being able to stand. Ambulance was called. I was taken to hospital, and they gave me CAT scans and other tests. They were very gracious. The doctors came to the conclusion that my official diagnosis was severe vertigo. The results of this went on for days on end. I am now following up how serious these migraines are with various doctors. When one tours, you have a lot of people who have to be healthy. Unfortunately, I was the one who got hit this time. Hope to see you all one day again when I’m healthy. All the best, Ritchie, a guitarist.”
Thanks to BraveWords for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I constantly checked the internet after reading about the postponed shows. I guess I’m one of those people he is talking about… Obviously because I was fearing to read some very sad news somewhere. I’m glad that isn’t the case but my thoughts were always with him.
Anyway, I hope he feels better soon and I wish him all the best! Hang in there Ritchie!!!
November 24th, 2025 at 07:54Get well Ritchie. Vertigo is horrible, migraines too, wishing you a speedy recovery. From a music aficionado who sometimes does have something to do, occasionally. Cheers.
November 24th, 2025 at 09:13Sounds horrible, hope all of this resolves as quickly as possible and sounds like exactly the right decision to cancel the tour and put health first.
November 24th, 2025 at 10:17Get well, Ritchie. Thoughts and prayers.
Just don’t save money at the expense of your health. Book decent hotels. You can afford it. If Grateful Dead can afford it, anybody can.
November 24th, 2025 at 11:18Suffering from migraine attacks is bitter and debilitating, but this comes as a relief. Get well, Herr Blackmore. And no, you can‘t play when or after a migraine attack has hit you.
It does raise questions though:
– Ritchie‘s health does not seem to withstand the road rigors of even small tours anymore. Maybe a new format should be considered, like a BN open air on Long Island once a year so Ritchie can actually sleep at home? Or do it like Johnny Winter who traveled through North America and Europe in his own trailer he would only leave for gigs. Money can hardly be a consideration, I rule out that Johnny Winter was wealthier than Ritchie Blackmore is now.
– I‘ve slept in several hundreds of hotels in my life, from dumps and run-down motels in the middle of nowhere to 5-star-ones in capital cities, some of them smelled of rotten mussels (not a pleasant smell …) because prior guests had left a package of them to rot in the room fridge, but I‘ve never encountered one with damp sheets! Who books these places and what quality are they? I rule out that this could happen at even a medium price lodge of any reputable chain.
Anyhow, without belittling how crippling migraine attacks can be, I‘m happy it is something treatable (though migraine medication is a real belter).
November 24th, 2025 at 13:16Some people get stingy with old age. I saw that with my dad too, always a generous, never a wasteful man, he developed out of nowhere a thriftiness bodering (and sometimes trespassing) stinginess with old age doing all these weird things to save money he had never done before. And when we saw his bank statements, stock portofolio and monthly pension (a whopping EUR 4.500 from state pension, his GM/Opel annuity and life insurance repayments) none of the stinginess would have been necessary. Strrrangeways ….
November 24th, 2025 at 16:10I just wondered why he didn’t move to another hotel sans wedding celebrations!
Hey, with the royalties flowing in his direction on a daily basis, he ought to be able to buy the hotel and put the noisy guests on the street (he had done that when he was younger, right?)
Uwe, I also wondered about the damp sheets…
Find it very dear that he signs the message with: Ritchie, a guitarist 🥰
November 24th, 2025 at 17:52Getting the right Migraine medicine can be tricky, not everything works for everyone. It can be a case of trying each one until you find one that works.
And many of the newer ones also require you to give up alcohol.
But spending more on hotels to ease the discomfort seems a wise investment.
November 24th, 2025 at 19:42I’m kind of amused by all the people telling him it’s time for him to retire. I would say playing six shows a year, all within driving distance of his house, pretty much IS retirement! The next logical step would be holding shows in his back yard or living room at this point.
November 24th, 2025 at 20:33A few health and safety ‘experts’ here I see. Move to another hotel???????? While you are violently ill, yes Karin , no problem, call a taxi or something. And for some here to presume they booked a, well ‘tawdry’ or cheap hotel is laughable. Too many ‘soap operas’ being viewed me thinks. Cheers.
November 24th, 2025 at 20:47Sorry, I forgot to add this little intro for this article. Does anyone remember it, unfortunately I do. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98T3PVaRrHU&t=30s
November 24th, 2025 at 20:53I´m so very glad Mr Blackmore himself had the time and energy to tell us all what is the actual situation and the reasons having had to cancel the BN shows.
Kick @1 nailed it.
Now it´s without a doubt a little easier again to try to concentrate to your own everyday things, too.
But when you have followed someone´s life and career about 45 years, it´s easier said than done.
But I really raise my cup now once more for a very special guitarist indeed.
Vielleicht Das Nächste Mal !
November 24th, 2025 at 21:16Some people get stingy with old age. I saw that with my dad too, always a generous, never a wasteful man, he developed out of nowhere a thriftiness bordering (and sometimes trespassing) stinginess with old age doing all these weird things to save money he had never done before. And when we saw his bank statements, stock portofolio and monthly pension (a whopping EUR 4.500 from state pension, his GM/Opel annuity and life insurance repayments) none of the stinginess would have been necessary. Strrrangeways ….
November 24th, 2025 at 21:51“I would say playing six shows a year, all within driving distance of his house, pretty much IS retirement!”
True, Don, but then even of those six he could only do two before having to call the mini-tour off. So maybe shows in the backyard or living room with a camera team (Ritchie has always liked those!) is the way forward. And shouldn’t retirement be a rather natural state for an 80-year-old? Ritchie has been on the road for something like 65 years.
If Ritchie is no longer fit for the road, I would perhaps like to hear him record more in the privacy of his home. I’d prefer new music by him to the umpteenth rendition of Renaissance Faire before people dressed in medieval garb.
November 24th, 2025 at 22:06You know life is very strange. A couple of years ago I was at a wedding and I started to have what I thought was a panic attack. I had trouble breathing, I was light headed and dizzy and thought I was going to pass out. They called an ambulance for me and they took me to that very same hospital in Newton NJ. They did every test you can think of to find out what was wrong with me and what they said was I was severely dehydrated. They gave me a couple of IV’s and I felt better. After reading what Ritchie said above it brought me right back there. I know Ritchie’s issue is different than mine but remember everyone drink plenty of water. We’re not as young as we used to be.
November 25th, 2025 at 00:05“For those who have nothing better to do”??? You’d think he’d be glad that people are concerned about him.
November 25th, 2025 at 01:15But Frater, that was just Ritchie’s own self-depracating humor. I’m sure he appreciates that we worry. But being the center of attention with your own health status can also be a bit embarrassing.
November 25th, 2025 at 09:33bonjour a tous pour ma part si il est en mauvaise santé, qu’il arrête! et qu’il profite des instants de tous les jours….cordialement
November 25th, 2025 at 10:00“Ritchie, a guitarist.”..haha… what a spirit !, head hurts but brain works at 100% .
Something in the style of Blackmore’s Night from an old friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24iJB6lYNlQ
LL a guitarist
November 25th, 2025 at 10:15Seems that Ritchie & I have a few things in common. A herniated disc is something I would not wish on anyone. Don’t have to worry much about that anymore as almost one-third of my spine is now fused and the rest of ’em have, to one degree or another, degenerated.
Vertigo is no picnic either… had chronic problems with that for a a few years, back when I was married. Funny that I have only had a couple of episodes since I emancipated myself from that hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4L8L43GieE
Get 2-3 migraines per month as well… probably due to all of the caffeine I ingest. Can’t stop now…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wuP5PgoMO8
November 25th, 2025 at 10:52@18
Nous sommes entièrement d’accord, monsieur.
November 25th, 2025 at 15:49@20
Russ, I promise you: coffee is better in serious amounts 😄
If you should happen to know an acupuncturist, get that person to put some needles in your ears, and migraines and herniated discs are yesterdays news!
November 25th, 2025 at 15:51Ironic that RB numbers the wedding party going on all night in the corridors among his complaints about the hotel. Did he consider that it may have been the karmic wheel coming around on him for his years of inflicting noisy middle-of-the-night pranks on various bandmates? Which no doubt disturbed many innocent bystanders as well.
Vertigo is often brought on by noise exposure. After being in one of the Guinness Book of Records’ loudest bands, RB is fortunate not to have full-on Ménière’s disease, like poor Huey Lewis. Which can leave one experiencing sudden dizzy spells anytime there is a loud noise, such as a truck going by.
Hope he can find effective treatments for his various ailments! And figure out a way to continue performing that won’t keep inflaming them.
Though AFAIK, there is no treatment for ocular migraines – the type RB specifies he is having – other than resting in a dark room until the visual disturbances stop. Wearing dark glasses in brightly-lit environments may reduce the likelihood of their occurrence, however.
November 25th, 2025 at 16:15Get well soon…..good ol Ritchie
November 25th, 2025 at 16:27He impressed me enormous a few days ago with his setlist…..while he starts playin’ CHILD IN TIME ….and Candice looking at him speechless when he did a beautiful acoustic solo in the middle with one or two mistakes…..and plays later HUSH and BLACK NIGHT and STREET OF DREAMS…..wished I would be there and listen to ST. TERESA later on 🙂 – so he surprised me often while I saw BN ten times …..this is his real magic for me since more than 50 years – his music
@ 21 Alors nous sommes entièrement d’accord….madame
November 25th, 2025 at 19:28@22
“put some needles in your ears, and migraines and herniated discs are yesterdays news!”
Yes, acupuncture can temporarily relieve a migraine but it can’t prevent them. Acupuncture will, for a while, alleviate the symptoms of a bulging disc. As for a disc whose soft nucleus pulposus is protruding through a tear in the harder outer anulus fibrosus constantly pressing on the nerve causing severe pain and impeding the function of that neurological pathway, acupuncture will do little to nothing for it. You cant mend that with a needle. No, I never went to medical school… I’m just one of those annoying people that believes in science, likes to be well informed and questions his doctors to death in order to better understand what is going on with his body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYzY-iO7Evs
November 26th, 2025 at 00:28@26
“Yes, acupuncture can temporarily relieve a migraine but it can’t prevent them”
– Then the acupuncturist isn’t very skilled…
“I’m just one of those annoying people that believes in science”
November 26th, 2025 at 07:33– so do I!
@27
“Then the acupuncturist isn’t very skilled…”
If poking someone with a needle will prevent migraines from ever occurring why isn’t everyone subjected to this as children like we are with vaccinations thus ensuring that no one ever gets a migraine?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v46EkKGw0WY
November 26th, 2025 at 08:43Anyway back to ‘ the man in black’ I’m relieved that the reported ‘ medical emergency’ isn’t life threatening (but condition obviously a pain in the neck (no pun intented). Mr B. has like many others been a huge part of my life with many many fond memories of all the wondeful gigs (and a few non oncores).. Keep Well – PJ
November 26th, 2025 at 09:19Ritchie‘s various health conditions are one thing (and perhaps not utterly surprising for an 80 year old man still born in WW II), but the whole incident must have also been very disheartening for him. There he goes participating in the first, however small and low-key tour in years in the relative proximity of his home and then fate grabs him, shakes him badly and “puts him in his place” so to speak. I had the impression that he was putting his toes into the bath water to see how much and what kind of touring his age and health still allow.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:23The ugly truth: Low ticket sales…
November 26th, 2025 at 14:25Montague, from what I heard the first two gigs of the mini-tour were sold out. BN is such a cottage industry venture that they never book venues that they might fear not selling out (or close to it), Ritchie is done with large halls, arenas or stadiums and has repeatedly said so.
The emptiest hall I ever saw Ritchie play in was the legendary 1977 Munich Rainbow gig which only began around midnight because Ritchie had been incarcerated in Vienna the gig before for getting too friendly (with the tips of his pointed white boots) with (the face of) a bouncer. People had the opportunity to leave the gig against a full refund and many did/had to because they had public transportation to catch etc. So by the time Ritchie had been ferried to the gig, freshly augmented hair unwashed, the hall had emptied to about 1/4 of its capacity. Yet I was, aged 16 and marooned in a foreign city on a school trip during the heyday of German anti-terrorism wars, among the unwavering faithful!
In general, BN have a very loyal following – miraculously so.
November 26th, 2025 at 17:44@28
Russ, let me explain:
The brain cannot feel any pain at all.
But when people are suffering from migraines it’s caused by the ‘water’ around the brain that is infected.
This is not me saying this, it’s actually real bred doctors who have found that!
What I have found is a cure, removing the inflammation in the ‘water’.
It will do no good to act beforehand, but when a person gets migraines it is pretty easy to handle, at least for me ☺️😉
As you may know, the medical industry is very sensitive to people who actually can make a difference 😄
And now to some music that describes very well how migraine feels:
November 26th, 2025 at 19:37https://youtu.be/TM23gaT4zkY
Heresy! No one can beat the one and only Steve Harley doing this!
https://youtu.be/G2zxzaWgVRA
Harley was of course no musical show, much less opera singer, but his pained passive-aggressive delivery on the original release remains unmatched.
November 26th, 2025 at 23:59@33
I believe you are confusing hydrocephalus as well as meningitis with migraines. Hydrocephalus is a build up of cerebrospinal fluid in and around the brain while meningitis is an infection of that fluid which may or may not involve an accumulation of said fluid. While they both can cause severe or even debilitating headaches they are different things. Infection and inflammation are two separate things; these terms are not interchangeable. In science it is of the utmost importance to be succinct.
Although some (Uwe) may disagree, I would say that a migraine feels something like any of these:
https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorSwift/videos
November 27th, 2025 at 00:30Re this accupuncture stuff, it is best to consult a specialist me thinks …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUD4P1U_Jw4
No one seems to be complaining about migraines for sure here.
PS: My parents let me watch horror movies from an early age on thinking nonsense couldn’t harm me. Weren’t they right?
November 27th, 2025 at 03:41Russ, pah, your water on Taylor’s back! 😂 Sone revenge pop from her …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnEg1RgmqO4
November 27th, 2025 at 08:06@36
“My parents let me watch horror movies from an early age on thinking nonsense couldn’t harm me…”
Well that explains a lot… 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUNrHzQ6u94
November 27th, 2025 at 09:35@35
“I believe you are confusing hydrocephalus as well as meningitis with migraines.”
– I am not!
It’s not an inflammation in the brain Russ, but in the ‘water’ that surrounds the brain.
Taylor Swift 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Russ you’re not a nice man!
November 27th, 2025 at 10:46@36
“My parents let me watch horror movies from an early age on thinking nonsense couldn’t harm me.”
– well if you knew it was nonsense it may not have harmed you 😄
In Denmark new inhabitants have to pass a test, and I just tried to answer it…. I need to find a new country 😄
I need some nice music to calm me down a bit:
https://youtu.be/qN5zw04WxCc
And btw, Roger Daltrey’s son was saved by homeopathy when he was very little! The doctors couldn’t do anymore, along came a skilled homeopath, saved the little kid, and Roger is now very much into homeopathy 😊
November 27th, 2025 at 11:03Are you now facing deportation, Karin Dear? I told you not to fill in “Ian Gillan” as an answer to the question: “Name at least one member of the Danish Royal Family:“, your zealotry brings you into all kinds of impossible situations! Last I heard, Danish punishments tend to be on the drastic side …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLaV_fRKK3E
Anyway, Germany has a vocal Danish minority we really pamper, would you like to move down south to Deupurpletschland? I could put a word in for you. We’re also the home of homeopathy, as you will be certainly aware. Don’t know whether that helps with growing another ear though.
PS: Thanks for that My Generation vid, that was the best visual underpinning to that song I’ve ever seen.
November 27th, 2025 at 19:03@ 41 – I noticed a little of that Viking show years ago but didn’t watch it at all, I presume that video clip is from the tv series. I alway thought the Vikings were rough, tough, unkept and radical. But that show has laid all my fears to rest, they look rather clean and act civilised. A pity in that ear removal scene the camera was obscured at that very moment. I was really looking forward to that. Anyway it looks like that lady got off easily, if that is all she had to endure at a public humiliation ritual. Karin may breathe easily, for a little longer at least. Cheers.
November 28th, 2025 at 05:52@41
“Are you now facing deportation, Karin Dear?l
– I’m afraid so!
I have taken these tests every year, and it always bemuses me that the new Danes need to know more about Denmark than I possibly can 🤔
Well, I answer correct 90 % but there is always a few questions no living persons can know…
“I told you not to fill in “Ian Gillan” as an answer to the question: “Name at least one member of the Danish Royal Family:““
– 🤣🤣 you got me there!
Well to me he is royalty! And here I thought you just said that to get me in trouble 😄
“your zealotry brings you into all kinds of impossible situations!”
– yeah! But ohh man the fun I have 😃😄
“Danish punishments tend to be on the drastic side …“
– Drastic!! Only if the husband get the same punishment I find it ok!
But yes, punishments in Denmark have taken a turn to the more soft side so to speak.
“Germany has a vocal Danish minority we really pamper”
– really! Well, to quote John Denver:
https://youtu.be/3MIxcvw6LJg
“would you like to move down south to Deupurpletschland?”
– well, yes!
“I could put a word in for you. “
– please do!
“We’re also the home of homeopathy, as you will be certainly aware.”
– yes my new countryman, but as I have mentioned over and over, I am educated from the Swedish school of homeopathy, way…WAY much better than the German 😃
“Don’t know whether that helps with growing another ear though.”
– haven’t lost any ear (yet!)
PS: you’re welcome!
November 28th, 2025 at 06:46@41
When it comes to ear modifications, I prefer this example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKQIGvULZCI
November 30th, 2025 at 08:35Quintessential Tarantino!
November 30th, 2025 at 15:16