Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan is to share tales from his career as he embarks on a talk tour of the UK. The tour will begin in April 2027, and continue throughout May, with dates and locations to be announced in due course. Members of Deep Purple’s Mark II line-up Ian Paice, Ian Gillan and Jon Lord (Yui Mok/PA)Gillan joined Deep Purple in 1969 forming part of the band’s Mark II line-up alongside Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore, which saw a move away from the organ-led psychedelia of their first two records. With Gillan, the band moved towards a proto-metal sound on the influential albums Deep Purple In Rock (1970), Fireball (1971) and Machine Head (1972). The singer left the band in 1973 and went on to pursue a number of solo projects, most notably with the band Gillan, and even spent a short time in Black Sabbath before returning to Deep Purple in 1984.