You might have heard that some bands become ’embarrassing’ when they get too old to make new music and tour. Ian Gillan believes Deep Purple will call it quits when they start to become ’embarrassing’ too.
“Well, you know what?! It was only recently that I heard somebody mention [the tour name]. I’d never heard that before,” Ian Gillan said when asked about their ‘=1 More Time’ tour in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “I’d never even spoken to anybody about it. No one asked me. That’s rubbish. That’s not the name of the tour. I think the tour is called ‘Unleashed’. Not that it matters; it’s a Deep Purple tour and we’re happy and whatever.”
“But to answer your question: it is what it is,” he then said of retiring. “As soon as you start feeling unable to deliver at that level — of course, you adjust, of course, you adapt and do the best you can. But when the energy level goes, that’s time to stop because then it gets embarrassing and nobody wants that. But so far, so good. I think that’s a much better title than what you just said.”
Last December, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice was asked in a Zoom interview about when he and his bandmates might retire from live performances.
“We have never planned a date to stop working,” he responded. “We are realists. The guys are getting older, and there’s gonna come a point where maybe one or two of us don’t want to do it anymore or [it’s] not physically possible for them to do it. But we don’t think about that. We’re still having a great deal of fun. A lot of people still enjoy what we do, and so long as those two things stay in harmony, we’ll continue.”
The rest of the band members also shared similar comments in earlier interviews. While the keyboardist Don Airey said the band wouldn’t know their last gig, Roger Glover said it would be ideal to carry on until no one can anymore.
Deep Purple’s latest album, ‘=1,’ was released on July 19 through earMUSIC.