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Obituaries
Jon Lord 1941-2012
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 17 July 2012
Former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord died yesterday, aged 71. Lord had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer since last August, and died after suffering a pulmonary embolism at a London Clinic surrounded by his family.
Born in 1941 in Leicester, Lord learned classical piano from the age of five. However, when he moved to London in 1959, his intention was to become an actor. Studying at the Central School Of Speech And Drama, he played piano in clubs in the evenings and as a studio session musician merely to pay the bills.
However, one of the bands he played with, The Artwoods, found brief success with their single ‘I Take What I Want’. After that, in 1967, he formed Santa Barbara Machine Head with the brother of Artwoods frontman Art Wood, a certain Ronnie Wood, who would, of course, go one to become a member of The Faces and The Rolling Stones. The band was short-lived, but did help Lord to create his signature sound before joining Deep Purple in 1968.
Deep Purple were put together by manager Tony Edwards, with the initial line-up also featuring bassist Ian Simper (who Lord had recently worked with during a brief stint with The Flowerpot Men), guitarist Richie Blackmore, vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Ian Paice.
Over the eight years the band initially performed, Lord and Paice were the only constant members, with Lord writing many of their biggest hits, including ‘Smoke On The Water’, and under his direction they undertook various classical projects too.
When the band split, he and Paice formed a new band with singer Tony Aston – Paice, Aston & Lord – who recorded just one album, ‘Malice In Wonderland’, in 1977, before splitting. Lord then joined Whitesnake, fronted by Deep Purple’s last frontman David Coverdale, until 1984, when Deep Purple reformed with the ‘classic’ early 70s line-up of Lord, Paice, Blackmore, vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover.
The band enjoyed considerable success during the mid-80s, particularly as a touring act, although a strained relationship between Blackmore and Gillan led to the singer being replaced by Joe Lynn Turner for two years; Gillan only returning for the band’s 25th anniversary after Blackmore had been given $250,000 to agree to the reunion.
Line-up changes continued through the 1990s, and Lord eventually left the band in 2002, when his request that they take a year off from touring was declined.
From 1970 up to this year, Lord also composed numerous solo works and albums, many of them orchestral compositions, and until his death he was working with supergroup WhoCares, with Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, HIM guitarist Mikko Lindström, ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newstead, and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain.
Jon is survived by his second wife Vickie (twin sister of Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice’s wife Jacky), their daughter Amy, and his daughter from his first marriage, Sara.
