Ian Gillan - If This Ain`t The Blues

Gillan was born on 19 August 1945[1] at Chiswick Maternity Hospital.

Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He originally found commercial success as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan started and fronted several local bands in the mid-1960s, and eventually joined Episode Six when their original singer left. He first found widespread commercial success after joining Deep Purple in 1969. After an almost non-stop workload, during which time he recorded six albums in four years, and problematic relationships with other band members, particularly guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Gillan resigned from the band in June 1973, having given a lengthy notice period to their managers. After a short time away from the music business, he resumed his music career with solo bands the Ian Gillan Band and Gillan, before a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath in 1983, in 84 Deep Purple reformed and two more successful albums followed before problems within the band led him to depart once more. In 1992 Deep Purple fans demanded he return after not "taking" to his replacement (Joe Lynn Turner) their twenty-fifth anniversary and another successful album followed. In 1994 following the recruitment of guitarist Steve Morse he has helped transform the group into a regular touring outfit, which he has fronted ever since.In 1975, Gillan formed the Ian Gillan Band with guitarist Ray Fenwick, keyboardist Mike Moran, quickly replaced with Mickey Lee Soule and then Colin Towns on keyboards, Mark Nauseef on drums and John Gustafson on bass. Their first album, Child in Time was released in July 1976, followed by Clear Air Turbulence in April 1977 and Scarabus in October. The sound of the band had a distinct jazz-rock aspect which, although interesting to Gillan, proved unpopular, particularly since punk rock was in vogue at that time.Gillan then formed a new band, simply called Gillan, retaining Towns (who would co-write most of the material), and adding guitarist Steve Byrd, bassist John McCoy and drummer Pete Barnacle. Byrd and Barnacle were quickly replaced by Bernie Tormé and by former Episode Six bandmate Mick Underwood, after Gillan saw Torme playing with his punk trio. This band had a more high powered hard rock sound, and the release of Mr. Universe in October 1979 saw Ian Gillan back in the UK charts, although the independent record company the album came out on – Acrobat Records – folded soon after the album was released, prompting a contract with Richard Branson's Virgin Records.