Deep Purple gitarist Steve Morse har offisielt sluttet i bandet for å ta vare på sin kone, Janine, som kjemper mot kreft. Morses siste kunngjøring kommer fire måneder etter at gitaristen sa at han ville ta en pause fra bandet, i håp om å bli med bandkameratene igjen når konas helse ble bedre. Han ble deretter erstattet på veien av den irske bluesrock-gitaristen Simon McBride.

Les også: Deep Purple gitarist Steve Morse tar midlertidig pause

Nyheten om at Steve Morse slutter i Deep Purple ble publisert i et eget innlegg (lørdag 23. juli) på bl.a. bandets offisielle facebook som du kan lese i sin helhet nedenfor. I den offisielle uttalelsen sies bl.a. at Steve Morse vil trekke seg tilbake fra bandet, etter å ha vært dets gitarist i mer enn et kvart århundre. Steves personlige forhold. har gjort det umulig for ham å forplikte seg til bandets timeplan gjennom 2022 og utover.

«Steve vil bli sterkt savnet av band, crew, management, plateselskap og alle de som har hatt gleden av å jobbe med ham gjennom årene. Steve har alltid vært enormt takknemlig for støtten og kjærligheten til Deep Purple fans over hele verden. En sann mester»

Siden Morse begynte i bandet i 1994, har han skrevet og spilt inn åtte studioalbum med bandet:

• «Purpendicular» (1996)
• «Abandon» (1998)
• «Bananas» (2003)
• «Rapture of the Deep» (2005)
• «Now What?!» (2013)
• «Infinite» (2017)
• «Whoosh!» (2020)
• «Turning to Crime» (2021)

Morse sier i en uttalelse:

«Last Autumn, I suddenly left the Purple writing session in Germany because my wife was having a real medical crisis. Almost a year later, we are learning to accept stage 4 aggressive cancer and chemo treatment for the rest of her life. We both miss being at shows, but I simply couldn’t commit to long, or far away tours, since things can change quickly at home. I suggested lining up a substitute guitarist last Autumn, hoping we could see the miraculous cancer cure all of us have heard about. As time went by, I could see the way things were heading though, after 28 years of being in the band. I’ve already played my last show with Purple back in Florida on the Rock Legends Cruise. I wish to thank the listeners who so strongly supported live music and turned every show from a dress rehearsal to a thundering, exciting experience. I’ll miss everybody in the band and crew but being Janine’s helper and advocate has made a real difference at many key points. As Janine adjusts to her limitations, she is able to do many things on her own, so we will try to play some shorter nearby concert tours with friends to, hopefully, get both of us out of the house! I know Simon has the gig nailed already, but I’m now handing over the keys to the vault which holds the secret of how Ritchie’s Blackmore ‘Smoke On The Water’ intro was recorded. I guess you have to jiggle the key just right because I never got it open.»

Her er et klipp med Steve Mores der han forklarer hvordan spille korrekt «Smoke On The Water»:

Og her et klipp med Steve Morse og Deep Purple som spiller låta live:

Deep Purple vokalist Ian Gillan sier følgende om Steve Morse:

«In circumstances like these it is normally difficult to find the right words, but not in the case of Steve Morse; I know what I want to say. He came from a different background to the rest of us in Deep Purple and yet his musical genius has been somehow compatible and played a big part in the fresh direction adopted by the group when he joined and made his first album with us in 1996, and then onwards, for over a quarter of a century, enjoying the longest incumbency of any DP guitarist and contributing to the longest unchanging line-up, which started when Don Airey replaced Jon Lord — who retired in 2002 — until the present day. I first became aware of Steve through the Dixi Dregs, particularly the track ‘Take It Off The Top’ which was the theme tune for Tommy Vance’s BBC rock show and impressed me mightily. I didn’t realise at the time that one day I would be lucky enough to stand on stage with Steve and enjoy his consummate skills up close and dangerous. I got to know him as a very kind man, full of ideas and the patience to see them developed. He would say, ‘You never know until you try it’. We sure had some fun debating that approach, but mostly in good humour and he always gave as good as he got. Steve has a legacy with Deep Purple that can never be forgotten, and that smile will be missed. It would be wrong to comment on his personal circumstances, suffice to say he’s in a bad place right now but dealing with it bravely and as best he can; we all admire his devotion; he’s been a strong family man all his life. All this has come at a terrible time for everybody, including the other musicians in Deep Purple. After two years off the road because of quarantines everywhere, we had to get back to what we do, and that is perform live around the world and make music in the way we have always done, since 1968. As we get older, we realise that we’re much closer to the end, and that triggers an urgency that won’t be tamed»

Her viser Steve Morse sine fantastiske gitarferdigheter:

Takk for alle fantastiske Deep Purple live opplevelser Steve Morse!

Har du opplevd Deep Purple live med Steve Morse?

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