In a recent interview with Radio Rock Ian Gillan revealed that Deep Purple are not going to retire any time soon. He said they’d called their current tour “The Long Goodbye” in order to avoid setting themselves a deadline for retiring, and that the future could still include new music along with more concerts. However, a reunion with Ritchie Blackmore is out of the question. “It would be, in the greatest scheme of things, impossible to do that. And I think it’s going to be increasingly difficult as the years go by, because no one has much interest in that sort of thing. … We have no great passion or dislike for Ritchie. We’re actually exchanging communications and ideas through our offices, so there’s no nasty feelings left. But I think it’s too late. We’re thinking about the end now. The other thing is it would just open the damn gates and all this whole damn thing would start all over again just when we put it to bed. … Let’s just let it rest. Let’s just wish Ritchie well, and do what he does, and we’ll do what we do. Things are going along very nicely now. … We’re so close to the end now – within a year or two, three, four. Who knows? But it’s close. … We’re happy now. It stopped raining. The sun’s shining. Let’s enjoy it.” He also mentioned that they don’t take their fans’ will about reconnecting with Ritchie Blackmore: “we have never considered the commercial aspects or the fans’ aspects or any of those things when we make decisions, because what we always do is what is most natural and follow our passion and hope that the audience will like it.”
