19 August 2025

Gillan, 2nd from the right

Singer IAN GILLAN was born in Chiswick, Middlesex, England
on 19 August 1945. Happy 80 to one of the greatest voices
ever in rock history.

He joined hard rock titans DEEP PURPLE in 1969 (they were named Episode Six
at that point) after being in several local bands. He left the band already in 1973,
after 5 LPs, to go solo with his own band and he also was the singer for Black Sabbath
for one year in 1983.

Gillan returned to the group in 1993, and has remained its lead singer ever since.

Many rock fans, certainly the fanatic ones, will remember him always for his jaw-dropping vocal tour de force on their 10-minute classic Child In Time from their notorious 1970 LP ‘Deep Purple In Rock‘. Watch/hear a spectacular live version above.

That classic – reworked instrumentally – is now part of the soundtrack for the fifth
season of American sf-horror series Stranger Things, which starts streaming on Netflix from November 26 onward. Listen to the new version below.

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