COVID lockdown was Deep Purple’s “dress rehearsal for retirement” – but the band is not yet ready to fully retire

In existence since the late 1960s, rock band Deep Purple have enjoyed a long career, touring the world countless times and releasing a remarkable 22 studio albums. The latest album is “Turning To Crime”, released in November.

Now, in a recent interview with Classic Rock, bassist Roger Glover says that the lack of gigs and increased home life brought on by the pandemic has been a “dress rehearsal for retirement” for the band, but that they are not yet ready to retire from the music world completely.

“In some ways, the COVID lockdown was like a dress rehearsal for our retirement. And as much as we all loved the opportunity to have all this additional time with our families, it’s clear that none of us are ready for a life without music and artistic expression just yet. We have so much fun doing this band”, Glover says and continues:

“Deep Purple can’t go on forever, but the idea of stopping isn’t a nice one – and right now it’s not a consideration. It’s hard to explain exactly why we’re still here 50 years on, but with this new record being a wonderful reminder of why we do what we do, that’s a question we can save to answer on another day.”