Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan Plays ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’
On this week’s episode of ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’ we got legendary Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan to prove and disprove what’s written about him.
Ian Gillan has a slight aversion to Wikipedia. “It’s just a complete waste of time,” Gillan tells us. “I know it’s fallacious, I know they’re careless, I know there’s been no research done at all. I couldn’t give a monkey’s toss. I’ve consciously avoided actually reading anything about Wikipedia.”
Turns out Gillan was correct, as you’ll witness throughout this entire episode. Though Gillan was not in the same high school class as Pete Townshend and seeing Elvis Presley in a film isn’t what inspired him to be a singer, it’s true that both Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore didn’t want anything to do with Concerto for Group and Orchestra at first. Gillan even told us that he wrote some of the concerto’s lyrics on a napkin the night of the performance.
Along with his iconic career in Deep Purple, Gillan reminisced about his time in Black Sabbath. Fans of rock star lore will love this episode, especially when Gillan recalls the moment when Geezer Butler came up with the infamous Stone Henge stage setup that was later parodied in Spinal Tap. Gillan also goes into detail about how one of Sabbath’s members removed a mattress placed to break the fall of a little person who played a demonic creature during Sabbath’s gigs.
Gillan also shares some heart-wrenching tales of late Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and how to this day, Ian gives Jon a little “hello” each time he does the daily crossword puzzle.
Check out the Ian Gillan episode of ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’ in the clip above! If you want to know even more about the truth of Ian Gillan’s life, pick up a copy of his memoir, Highway Star.
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