Gillan was born on the ashes of the Ian Gillan Band in 1978, when Ian decided to abandon the jazz-fusion style of his previous project in favour of a more progressive direction, together with keyboardist Colin Towns. The band was dissolved in 1982 following the Magic tour, partly due to Gillan’s health issues with his vocal chords. Still in its brief existence they managed to release 5 top 20 albums and ride the popularity of the NWOBHM sweeping the continent.

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Ascended to rock royalty status as the lead singer of Deep Purple, Ian Gillan continued making an impact on the rock scene, and has become an erudite elder statesman of the genre. He sang in the role of Jesus in the original Andrew Lloyd Webber show, Jesus Christ Superstar and he co-wrote and sang the iconic ‘Smoke on the Water’ among dozens of other hits. He has played to tens of millions of fans, and sold over one hundred million records. To this day he approaches writing, recording and touring with the zeal, passion and commitment of an eighteen year old.