Ian Gillan: Maybe He’s a Leo

Actually, he is.

Ian Gillan turned 67 yesterday, born August 19, 1945 in London, England.

Two things come to mind when I think of the amazing vocal work of Deep Purple's lead singer and lyricist.

The first is his jaw-dropping performance as Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

The second is how his voice is still as emotive and passionate as when he was a mere lad.

How he keeps those vocal chords so youthful appears to be due to his belief in constantly working them out on the road.

According to an interview in 2007, since 2005's Rapture of the Deep, Deep Purple have been touring continually, and Gillan is particularly motivated in keeping it that way, because he believes that constant live performance is required in order to keep his voice in shape.

This year will be a busy one aside from the touring, because the 1972 album, "Machine Head", celebrates its 40th anniversary.

The album is often credited as being influential in heavy metal music's very creation.

A special edition of "Machine Head" as a 5-disc set (including a remaster and a remix) will be released this October.

And set for release (on September 25th) is "Re-Machined-A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head", with contributions by Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, Metallica, Chickenfoot, Joe Elliott and many others.

Deep Purple will continue to tour but they'll have to go on without Jon Lord, who sadly passed away just this past July.

Happy belated birthday to Ian Gillan!

I'll leave you with a Deep Purple song I simply adore that contains that gorgeous Steve Morse guitar-riff I can't get out of my head for hours after I listen to it. Enjoy!