Collection of statements, phrases, praises dedicated to The Man in Black

"I had in my group two guitarists and when he joined us he was only sixteen years old. He was shy and fearful, always looking for a corner in which to hide, but it was the best guitarist around and we realized he was the best from the very first moment.
People came from far away, just to listen to his solos. He learned to stand on stage and address the audience during those years that he was with me . "
- Screaming Lord Sutch

 

"I has disrupted my life, but I hope that things will go well because he is the best musician I've ever met. "
- Roger Glover

 

" In Rock, for me, is what I call rock, Blackmore what a guitarist! Even now, I really do not know how to play like him. "
- Brian Adams

 

" His style is wonderful! ".
- Toni Iommi

 

" Ritchie was basically a virtuoso, while Toni was a rhythm guitarist , in different ways, both of them are two genius , no doubt. "
- R.J.Dio - on Blackmore and Iommi.

 

"I think for the DP was a big loss to lose someone like Ritchie. For me, currently remains the biggest guitar expression of the last twenty years. Deep Purple can only exist with Ritchie on guitar, otherwise, the name, Deep Purple, should be changed.
" Ritchie Blackmore has had total influence on many musicians of the seventies and eighties more than Jimmy Page and any other.
- Yngwie Malmsteen

 

"Playing with Deep Purple ? I did it solely for pleasure, love, and admiration for a group I respected and I admire a lot.
DP are the group with which I grew up with. Ritchie Blackmore is a guitarist that I have always admired, so it was a fabulous opportunity to enjoy myself and to learn something new."
- Joe Satriani

 

" I'm a fan of The Man in Black since 1971 " .
- Axel Rudi Pell

 

"The whole world says that Page invented hard rock and Toni Iommi the heavy metal. To me it's Ritchie Blackmore the one who gave the rock of the seventies its true dimension."
- Steve Clark / Def Leppard

 

" Ritchie is the one with more experience, both as a musician and performance. I think it's the most technically gifted guitarist that ever walked on stage. Everything else is a matter of taste, he is a great showman . He has the reputation to be moody, as when he refuses to concede an encore. This is also true, but many times it is not understood. In fact it is very shy and quiet."
- Ian Gillan

 

" Our first concert was one of the greatest we have ever held and it took us two more years for us to play another one like it. I think we built U2 around a spark, we must remember that at that stadium, there was still the tradition of the true musician, there was still the tradition of Ritchie Blackmore. We could not have competed at that level."
- Bono Vox

 

" What do you think of Smoke on the Water ? Smoke on the Water ? Thank you for the gift! Blackmore was one of the first to combine strength with elegance. What is so impressive is the mastery of the instrument at all times , way better than Hendrix , Page and Beck. Together with Satisfaction that is the most popular riffs in the world".
- Steve Vai

 

" Seeing play together Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore I believe was something extraordinarily fascinating, you know the final of Child in time, a truly monumental jam ! At that time, with the exception of Emerson Lake and Palmer no one was able to compete technically with DP. I would like to give you an example, " Highway star ", anticipated what would become many years later Van Halen and to be more precise, the very first Van Halen of their first years.
The same vocal lines and that infernal guitar."
- Steve Morse