From hennemusic.com:

Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice is thrilled with the band’s induction into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"I knew it would probably happen one day," Paice tells Rolling Stone. “I do appreciate how difficult it probably was for them to do it with so many lineups, so many different members. It's a minefield, really. I suppose it's rather nice.”

Deep Purple members set to be inducted include most of the Mk 1, II and III lineups: Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

Deep Purple have been eligible for entry since 1993 while 2016 marks their third nomination in the past three years. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination.

The drummer is the only member of the group to play with every version of the band.

Asked if he thought that the various lineup changes made it a challenge for the Hall to commit to a nomination and/or induction earlier, Paice says “The problem with Purple is there has been so many incarnations, so many lineups, that I almost thought a couple of years go, ‘Why don't they forget doing a Purple one? Why not treat the guys individually?’

“We've been so fortunate to not just have band members, but to have virtuosos. They warrant their own place individually in the Hall of Fame, people that have influenced whole generations of people who play that instrument, and singers. That would have been the easy way out of it. That's just my little thing on it. But it looks like we're in. That's very nice. I'm pleased.”

“Realistically, you'd like to think that anyone who was ever in the band made a contribution and should really be listed,” he continues. “It doesn't matter if they were there for an album or two; everyone who was in the band actually contributed to the fact we're still there. All these people, from the very beginning to the current lineup, have helped maintain Purple as a viable touring entity that a lot of people around the world really enjoy. So to pick some over others, I wouldn't have done it that way.”

Will Deep Purple members from different eras be able to put aside their differences to perform at the 2016 event?

“I have no idea,” says Paice. “I haven't even thought about it. No idea. We have to accept that there are personalities that don't see eye-to-eye in our history. How that would work, I have no idea. Whether that could be put aside, I don't know. It's definitely one to contemplate and think about.”

Lord passed away July 16, 2012 at the age of 71 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, and singer Evans’ whereabouts remain a mystery.

Among the wild cards on the night is Blackmore, who left the lineup in 1993 and went on to form the medieval folk band Blackmore’s Night in 1997 with then-girlfriend and now-wife Candice Night.

“That's questionable,” Paice says. “He can confuse you sometimes. You think he'll do one thing and he'll do the other. I wouldn't put money either way on that one.”

As for the elusive Evans, Paice explains “We haven't had contact with him since the late 1970s. Nobody seems to know where the hell he is, or even if he is still alive. Not a clue. If anyone knows where Rod is or even if he is still on the planet, that would be good news.”

The 31st Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, April 8 at the Barclays Center in New York and will be broadcast by HBO in the spring.

Glad there including Hughes & DC. I love both MK2 & Mk3; though I probably think first of Mk2.

If there is a Blackmore & Hughes reunion on the broadcast, I will need to watch. I'd love to hear Ian & Hughes harmonize!

One of the Greatest hard Rock bands of all freak'in time! And about f*#% time!

Rick A.

Paice isn't happy that Don Airy and Steve Morse aren't being included.

I could see Morse being included, but not Airey. Let's bring him in with Ozzy.

I figure if Paicey, Gillan, and Glover say Airey and Morse should be in, they should be in. Deep Purple has been so good for so long with so many line ups, that while I get that Mk II gets all the press, there's enough there to just induct everyone, and see who decides to show up.

And given that Ritchie's currently in the mood to play Rock, I expect that everyone - including Airey and Morse, will be on stage for Smoke on the Water.

And as a metal fan, Deep Purple is the third pillar of the triad upon which my music is built. Even though, as Jon Lord said, they deny the parentage.

Jason

I think Don has done an incredible job since replacing Lord when Jon retired. He does Jon's parts to a T.

I mentioned that in another thread that Morse and Airey absolutely should be in.

Airey is my favorite Rock keyboardist especially with Ozzy, Rainbow and Purple not to mention Whitesnake, Gary Moore, MSG, Sabbath and Jethro Tull among others.

How Rod Evans gets in and Morse doesn't defies logic.

But, look at the organization we're talking about.

Yeah, funny how that is considering Morse has been with DP since 1994. I guess 21 years isn't enough. Heck, Airey has been a full-timer there since 2002!

Airey is well known by rock fans as a solid player who always plays great, but to the general public, he's not known. I first remember him playing for Ozzy back in the '80s, wearing a monk's robe while he did so.

What about Nick Simper? Evans was part of the ill advised fake deep purple reunion, and lost his royalties to the 1st three albums. Simpler at least had the sense to follow his own course.

I forgot about that, you're right.

Maybe because it happened 35 years ago, they got over it?

Simper and Joe Lynn Turner should also be there.

ALL ex-members (and it's not all that many considering they've been together for nearly 50 years) should be in.

Everybody contributed.

I was one of those weirdos who always knew the keyboard players in Hard Rock/Metal bands (even the ones who played to the side of the stage) and Airey was and still is my favorite.

Don's contributions to Ozzy's music was invaluable and I loved him wearing that monk's robe which was at Ozzy's request due to the Gothic imagery. Don in fact, refused to join the band unless he was a full member, which he was.

But, really, the public at large doesn't know shit about keyboard players in bands because it isn't glamorous (and keytars, well-that was just a tragic invention to make keyboard plays look hip, and let's just say it had the opposite effect.)

In the sense that he was listed as a band member and featured in photographs.

All of Ozzy's musicians have been sidemen, although Bob Daisley will beg to differ with you on that one.

I didn't realize Airey had been with DP that long. I also think of him as a sideman to Ozzy.

Deep Purple are already lining up tour dates for the tail end of 2017 — and it looks like they might be among the band’s last.

The venerable rockers have announced the first dates in what’s being billed as the Long Goodbye Tour, which is currently scheduled to begin Nov. 17 and run through Nov. 23 — five U.K. dates in total, all of which you can check out below. Tickets for the shows are set to go on sale Dec. 9, and they’re almost certainly just the first round in a run of shows that will continue into 2018.

That year, presumably not coincidentally, marks Deep Purple’s 50th anniversary — which would seem to be a pretty good time to walk away from the road if, as rumored, the band members are looking to retire from touring. Recent reports have cited sources “very close” to band management as indicating the group is ready to scale back, and drummer Ian Paice’s recent health woes would seem to lend further credence to the idea.
As previously reported, Paice — the only constant in Deep Purple’s frequently shifting lineup over the years — was diagnosed with a “mini-stroke” last summer after waking up and discovering “that the right side of [his] body was feeling numb and [he] could not control [his] right hand and fingers.”

Deep Purple were forced to pull out of a string of shows while he recuperated — the first dates Paice had ever missed.

If Deep Purple’s Long Goodbye Tour really does end up living up to its name, it should find the band going out on a creative high: their 20th studio album, Infinite, is scheduled for release next year.

Deep Purple The Long Goodbye Tour
11/17 – Barclaycard Arena Birmingham
11/18 – Manchester Arena
11/20 – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
11/22 – SSE Hydro Glasgow
11/23 – The O2, London

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/deep-pur ... dbye-tour/

We're down to 2 1/2 members (if Paice is that sick); I'd agree, it's time. They have a hell of a legacy.

I've been fortunate to have seen them twice (but not the classic lineup) and they are always great live. I'll see em if they come thru NYC.

Paice isn't sick and he's not half of a human being.

There's 3 classic members (Gillan and Glover not original but who the hell cares), and Morse has been there since 1994 and Airey since 2002.

I'd say that's a long time.

This IS Deep Purple.

They can say when it's time and if they decide this album and tour are it I'm fine.

The last album was outstanding.

Glenn Hughes tonight in Madrid Spain! Coming to LI on April 23!!

Deep Purple & Paul Rodgers?

It could have happened.

Apparently, before David Coverdale was recruited as the singer in 1973, the band was going to ask Paul Rodgers to join, but he started working with Bad Company, so....