Ritchie Blackmore's combustible guitar riffs in the seminal band Deep Purple were the sparks that fed the conflagration of a whole new genre: heavy metal. Blackmore's musical ambition led him away from the band in 1975, after which he poached members of the band Elf--including vocalist Ronnie James Dio--to record the solo project that would evolve into the band Rainbow. Dio's lyrics were a castles-and-kings affair and Blackmore's classical-derived music suited them well. The pair--with an ever-rotating line-up behind them--recorded several popular albums, until Dio was lured away by Black Sabbath in '79. Blackmore reunited with Deep Purple in 1984, revisiting Rainbow briefly in the mid-'90s before finally pulling the plug on both bands and moving on to the medieval folk act Blackmore's Night.

Listen to Rainbow at Finetune.

• (2025)  Bent Out Of Shape
• (2008)  Live In Munich 1977
• (2006)  Live In Munich 1977
• (2003)  Catch The Rainbow: The Anthology
• (2000)  20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Rainbow
• (1999)  Down To Earth
• (1999)  Difficult To Cure
• (1999)  Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
• (1999)  Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
• (1999)  Rainbow Rising
• (1999)  On Stage
• (1999)  Straight Between The Eyes
• (1999)  Finyl Vinyl
• (1997)  The Best Of Rainbow
• (1988)  Rising

• Man On The Silver Mountain
• Since You Been Gone
• Street Of Dreams
• I Surrender
• Catch The Rainbow

• Black Sabbath
• Led Zeppelin
• Deep Purple
• Judas Priest
• Iron Maiden
• Van Halen
• Aerosmith
• Blue Oyster Cult
• Nazareth
• Motorhead
• Def Leppard
• Yngwie Malmsteen
• AC/DC
• UFO
• Dio
• Ted Nugent
• Uriah Heep
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Twisted Sister
• Queensryche

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• georg01 on 2009-12-29 15:13:53.690:
  Dio was not in Deep Purple - after Rainbow he went to Black Sabbath.
• GratefulGrey on 2008-09-10 20:01:42.460:
  Long Live DIO!
• GratefulGrey on 2008-09-10 20:01:25.647:
  No he was not in Journey. But, Dio was in Deep Purple and ELF before Rainbow. |__| |__|
• aicitel on 2008-05-23 02:59:50.527:
  The singer has a voice that melts ice. Wasn't he Journey's singer before Perry?
• justgeo on 2008-03-02 07:14:15.437:
  what? no comments on this once great outfit! thats a disgrace if ever i saw one! grew up with this band and have seen them numerous times. richie is a freak, but plays a mean guitar. anyone who's never heard them i woud give em a listen if i was you. if you like rock, you'll like rainbow. simple as that!