Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore (born 1945) is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history, co-founding Deep Purple in 1968 and creating some of the genre's defining riffs. Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, and Burn showcase his fusion of classical music and blues — a neoclassical approach that directly influenced Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen, and virtually every hard rock and metal guitarist who followed. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, he formed Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio, producing Man on the Silver Mountain and Stargazer. His playing combined baroque precision with aggressive, blues-inflected bending, and his live performances were legendary for their intensity and unpredictability. His Fender Stratocaster tone — overdriven through Marshall amplifiers — became one of the defining sounds of hard rock.