Blackmore’s Night singer Candice Night has shared an update on her husband and bandmate, legendary Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, revealing he’s currently managing three significant health problems.
Speaking with the Iron City Rocks podcast while promoting her solo album Sea Glass, Night praised Blackmore for staying aware of his physical condition — though she admits she sometimes has to step in.
“One of the things that’s so great about Ritchie is he can recognize — he’s very in tune with his own body, and he stays on top of everything. Thank goodness. And when he doesn’t, I nag him to stay on top of it, which he hates, but at least somebody’s doing it — you know, like eating well and things like that.”
Night explained: “There’s the three main issues with him that are going on. He has a heart issue. He had a heart attack a couple of years ago, so we stay on top of that. He’s got gout, so that’s difficult. It’s affecting his feet really badly. And it’s starting in his forefinger, so it’s hurting the mobility in that, so he just had an injection for that. And his back, of course, which has always been an issue. He hasn’t taken any back injections since he had the heart issue. So everything kind of is working together. So, it’s hard — it is hard for him. But he’s at the point now where — he’s very smart when it comes to things like that.”
On the challenges of touring, she said: “It’s not so much the travel on a plane. Honestly, it’s the aggravation before you even get into the plane and after you get into the plane and it’s all the sitting of traveling. So that’ll affect his back and all the rest of it. And the jet lag that stresses your heart. All of these things. Waiting on those lines when you have to get to JFK and you have to go transatlantic, and then coming off and going back through the security lines and the customs lines… it really does take a toll on a human — on a healthy human, so forget about someone who’s 80 years old and going through these issues.”
While she’s careful not to push him, Night said Blackmore recently hinted at the possibility of shows later this year.
“He did just say to me yesterday… ‘What about doing some Blackmore’s Night dates in the fall?’ So, of course, I got greatly excited about that. So now I’ve gotta contact the agent. But he would rather do places that he can drive to. He takes the night off the next day. Gone are the days where you do five shows in a row, including travel. That’s just way too much.”
If the shows happen, they’ll follow a much slower pace — traveling by car, resting between dates, and avoiding the grueling schedules of the past.
“If we go someplace, I’m driving. So it’s like a mini road trip… but not really because we have to just get to the place, rest that night. Hopefully it’s close enough to the venue. You get to the venue, you go back, you get a good night’s sleep that night… and then you move on to the next place and have a day of travel. So it’s a very slowed down way of doing it. But honestly, I’d much rather take something than nothing at all.”
