RIP Jon Lord

Yesterday, the world lost the co-writer of "Smoke On The Water," Jon Lord. Lord is best known as the keyboardist for mega-band Deep Purple. While in the band, he fused classical and blues music together seen in their tunes "Concerto for Group and Orchestra," "Space Truckin'," "Highway Star," and "Child in Time." Lord said that Deep Purple was "as valid as Beethoven" in an interview with NME in 1973. In their heyday (1970ish), Deep Purple was as popular as Led Zep, The Stones, and Black Sabbath, and sold over 100 million records.  

Lord performing in 2004 in Berlin at a gala.

Lord retired from Deep Purple in 2002 and continued to work on solo projects and collaborations. One of his recent collaborations included working on a single with WhoCares, a supergroup consisting of Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath guitarist Tommy Iommi, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, and Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. Last August, he revealed that he had pancreatic cancer and would be taking a break from touring, but not from writing music as it would be part of his therapy.


Here's to Jon Lord and the hits he wrote for Deep Purple. His music will always live on.