Ritchie Blackmore

Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist, who was a co-founding member of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Blackmore's Night. In the 1960s, he began his professional career in bands such as the Outlaws and Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages, and worked as a session guitarist for singers such as Glenda Collins, Heinz, Neil Christian and others.

Blackmore has been known for playing both classically influenced and blues-based solos. He is cited by publications such as Guitar World and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest and most influential guitar players of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple in April 2016.

Blackmore was born at Allendale Nursing Home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, the second son of Lewis J. Blackmore and Violet (née Short). The family moved to Heston, Middlesex, when Blackmore was two. He was 11 when his father gave him a guitar on the condition that he learn to play properly, so he took classical guitar lessons for one year.

In an interview with Sounds magazine in 1979, Blackmore said that he started the guitar because he wanted to be like British musician Tommy Steele, who used to just jump around and play. Blackmore loathed school and hated his teachers. He said he would always get caned for speaking in class, which traumatized him to the point he had difficulty in talking to people in subsequent years. Blackmore became fed up with formal education, thinking that if he were to excel in his studies, he would end up being like his teachers.

Blackmore left school at age 15 and started work as an apprentice radio mechanic at nearby Heathrow Airport. He took electric guitar lessons from session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.