Ian Gillan Quotes

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Ian Gillan

Profession : Musician

Birth : August 19, 1945

Glenn Hughes is one of the most naturally talented musicians, but he's still copying Steve Wonder to this day, so I can't call him a bona fide member of Deep Purple.

Ian Gillan

We were the first generation of rock & roll, but life goes on.

Ian Gillan

In Poland, the whole saying is, 'You've got one eye to Morocco and the other to the Caucasus.' That's the heart of the culture. In England, they say it less romantic: 'You've got a wandering eye.' The saying means my main stream in life must be Deep Purple. That's my main job. Then every now, and I can wander off and have one eye to Morocco.

Ian Gillan

I love Buffalo. The people here are wonderful, genuine; they look you straight in the eye.

Ian Gillan

It means a lot to a lot of people, 'Smoke On The Water.'

Ian Gillan

My grandad was an opera singer, my uncle a jazz musician; I was a boy soprano in the church choir. But the first performance with Deep Purple was something I'll never forget. All elements were working brilliantly.

Ian Gillan

Although he appeared in some awful movies, Elvis could also be pretty damn good as an actor.

Ian Gillan

No matter what I do, I've always recognized that Deep Purple is primarily an instrumental band. That's where all the music comes from in rehearsals - it all stems from the music.

Ian Gillan

I once wrote a song called 'No Laughing in Heaven,' which was about not wanting to go to Heaven due to the company I'd be keeping, and with a few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the same thing.

Ian Gillan

Purple - I mean, the music and the influence and the subliminal touches range from orchestral conversation to jazz to blues and soul and God knows what. It's a vast range of expressions.

Ian Gillan

Our partying was governed by licensing hours. When the pub or club shut, that would be it.

Ian Gillan

You can never criticize a monumental musician like Jon Lord or Richie Blackmore, or the part they played in the group, but life goes on.

Ian Gillan

What happens is we finish the show, have a couple of drinks, go back to the hotel, talk, and that's it.

Ian Gillan

One of my greatest pleasures is writing on my Web site.

Ian Gillan

The people who come to Purple shows are there for the music.

Ian Gillan

I've been in music all my life.

Ian Gillan

If you start adapting to audiences, you're really second-guessing the situation, and it becomes a bit more like cabaret.

Ian Gillan

When you think about it, we sold about 120 million records, which relates to about £1.2 billion in the U.K. economy. We've seen very little of that.

Ian Gillan

When I'm writing with Tony Iommi, for example, still it's very easy. We go in, and I know exactly what his style is. It's very distinctive, and you know exactly what he's looking for, and we know exactly where we're going from the first chord.

Ian Gillan

I was an avid collector of Elvis' early stuff; for a young singer, he was an absolute inspiration. I soaked up what he did like blotting paper. It's the same as being in school - you learn by copying the maestro.

Ian Gillan