Ritchie Blackmore details health issues that caused him to cancel tour
Ritchie Blackmore has detailed his health issues that recently led to him cancelling the remainder of his tour.
Last week, Blackmore, who formerly served as the guitarist in Deep Purple and Rainbow, announced that the final stretch of dates for his North American tour with Blackmore’s Night would no longer be going ahead.
At the time of the cancellation, Blackmore issued the following statement: “All Blackmore’s Night shows postponed at this point due to medical reasons. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
Now, he has clarified the situation in a lengthy Facebook post, which began, “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.”
He said of the condition, “They come and go very quickly. When I see the visual disturbance of these ocular migraines, I know they are coming.”
Blackmore continued, “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.”
The legendary guitarist then explained that he “couldn’t stop vomiting”, before noting that, “The room wouldn’t stop spinning and I was extremely dizzy to the point of not being able to stand.”
He was then taken to the hospital after an ambulance was called and underwent a number of tests, as well as scans. Blackmore added, “The doctors came to the conclusion that my official diagnosis was severe vertigo. The results of this went on for days on end.”
Blackmore then shared, “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.”
Despite his ongoing health issues, Blackmore hopes to tour again in the future, concluding, “Hope to see you all one day again when Im healthy. All the best, Ritchie, a guitarist”.
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