Ian Gillan

“There used to be a time when people used to hold up cigarette lighters and candles at concerts, and the place was aglow to celebrate the end of the evening, or during a slow song, there was this congregational euphoria that used to exist. It still does, but now it's a question of iPhones being held up.”

“If you think of a solo artist, you normally know them by their name; you don't normally describe their kind of music. You just say, 'It's so and so, or it's so and so.' But with bands, everyone feels an obligation to categorize them.”

“I was an avid collector of Elvis' early stuff; for a young singer, he was an absolute inspiration. I soaked up what he did like blotting paper. It's the same as being in school - you learn by copying the maestro.”

“We soaked up everything from Beethoven to Chopin to Jimi Hendrix to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.”

“My father was a storekeeper at a factory in west London.”

“When you think about it, we sold about 120 million records, which relates to about £1.2 billion in the U.K. economy. We've seen very little of that.”

“The one thing nobody was taught was how to deal with success, and I think that happens to everyone who makes it at a young age.”

“If there was such a thing as a typical English gentleman in rock music, then it was Jon Lord.”

“I don't think anyone likes to be pushed around.”

“I think there's something about having a purpose in life and a sense of belonging that is more important than money for any human being.”

“Purple - I mean, the music and the influence and the subliminal touches range from orchestral conversation to jazz to blues and soul and God knows what. It's a vast range of expressions.”

“I once wrote a song called 'No Laughing in Heaven,' which was about not wanting to go to Heaven due to the company I'd be keeping, and with a few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the same thing.”

“I like walking and hiking, and many of the ideas for songs have germinated from this.”

“I've never listened to any of Purple Mk III's records.”

“Rock music had its own constituency, its own steering wheel. It was beyond the control of the establishment, and we saw TV as the enemy.”

“I have heard that my Wikipedia entry is completely incorrect, but then again, so is everyone else's. I haven't bothered about that.”

“I remember my uncle, who was a jazz pianist, when we did Deep Purple 'In Rock,' he ran from the room screaming, holding his ears: 'I can't hear anything. I can't hear any instruments.' And I was rubbing my hands going, 'Great.'”

“It's a fine line between self-assuredness and arrogance.”

“I've been in music all my life.”