“The best”: Ritchie Blackmore’s favourite band of all time
As a pioneer of both guitar playing and metal, it makes sense that Ritchie Blackmore should also be a singular human being. A non-conformist both sonically and personally, over the years, the former Deep Purple member has provided a long list of hot and often head-scratching takes.
While Blackmore did a lot to move music on from the hard rock of the late 1960s into the first iteration of metal, his status as an innovator means he has a very fixed perception of the world. Somewhat surprisingly, given his own transgressive art and personality, in the mid-1970s, the guitarist made it clear that he hated one of the day’s most important figures, David Bowie, for dumbing down music, alongside another artist whose work bore similar hallmarks to his own, Alice Cooper.
That take is challenging to get your head around for a few reasons. It’s made all the more bewildering when noting who Blackmore deems his favourite band of all time.
In March 2024, the guitar hero revealed all during a 40-minute Q&A streamed on Instagram, which was hosted by his wife, Candice Night. The chat took place in the “Badger and Pussycat pub” in their home in Long Island, New York, and features the often sullen Blackmore in “a talkative mood”, which some fans suggested was due to him having a tipple. After all, he discloses in the video that Hofbräu, a German beer, is one of his favourites.
That is not the big revelation, though. That came as part of Blackmore taking a trip down memory lane and casting his mind back to when his post-Deep Purple outfit, Rainbow, was recording their 1978 album Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll with frontman Ronnie James Dio and drummer Cozy Powell.
He said that the trio were “all very bored”, sitting around the fireplace at the Château d’Hérouville, starting to get irritated because they weren’t coming up with any fresh ideas. However, the night turned unexpectedly: “Cozy said, ‘Okay, I have to own up.’ And we looked at him because we’d been drinking, as usual, and we said, ‘You have to own up about what?’ He said, ‘Are you ready?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘I like Abba.’ To which I went, ‘Oh my God. I love Abba.’ And then Ronnie goes, ‘Yes. So do I.'”
“So now we’ve all embarrassed ourselves going, ‘Ah, we love Abba,’ because you’re not supposed to say that,” Blackmore continued. He recalled Powell running off to get his Abba records and play them.
Looking back on that strange night, Blackmore conceded that he thought Abba were the best to ever do it. “I think Abba was the best band,” he said. “I always listened to Abba when I was a kid [note: Blackmore was 28 when Abba’s first single was released]. It was so melodic, and it just worked. It was fantastic. And they are probably my favourite band of all time. And I know it’s uncool to say that in certain areas. And they were wonderful.”
Although Blackmore’s comment about Abba’s melodies and general brilliance is correct, it’s surprising that he said it, beer-influenced or not. This is not just because of his position as a metal pioneer or his comments about Bowie but also because he openly hated other pop bands, such as The Police, and criticised them for putting a sheen on music, which Abba certainly had.
