Ritchie Blackmore postpones tour due to health reasons
Ritchie Blackmore has postponed all of his tour dates due to medical reasons.
Blackmore, who formerly served as the guitarist in Deep Purple and Rainbow, was due to hit the road with his band Blackmore’s Night.
Blackmore’s Night recently resumed their tour on November 9th at The Birchmore in Alexandria, Virginia, which was followed by a show in Pennsylvania.
However, on November 15th, hours before being due to take to the stage in New Jersey, it was confirmed that the show would no longer be going ahead. A subsequent cancellation announcement followed on November 17th regarding the concert in Delaware.
Then, on November 18th, all shows on the tour were postponed. A message on Blackmore’s Facebook reads, “All Blackmore’s Night shows postponed at this point due to medical reasons. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
No specifics have been given regarding the medical reasons in question, nor has it been specified whether it’s Blackmore or a bandmate who is suffering from the health issues.
In April, Blackmore’s wife and bandmate in Blackmore’s Night, Candice Night, revealed that he suffered a heart attack in 2023.
She told Total Rock: “Ritchie has actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane. He had a heart attack about a year and a half ago. He’s got six stents.”
Nevertheless, Night claimed that her husband remains the picture of health, noting, “I can’t believe he’s gonna be 80 on April 14th – which is crazy…he doesn’t look it, still doesn’t act it. But eventually, medical things wind up catching up with you.”
She added: “I’ve seen people younger than him in wheelchairs on stage doing what they do… I think he probably doesn’t want people to see him that way.”
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Blackmore’s old band, Deep Purple, with who he had two spells in between 1968 and 1993, recently announced plans for a 2026 arena tour in the UK.
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