DEEP PURPLE Completes New Album, Announces U.K. Tour With BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

DEEP PURPLE is heading back to the U.K. to tour arenas in 2020 with special guests BLUE ÖYSTER CULT. The tour starts at the Manchester Arena on October 2, 2020, and hits London The O2 on October 3, Glasgow The SSE Hydro on October 5, Leeds First direct Arena on October 6 and ending at Arena Birmingham on October 8. Tickets on sale on Friday, December 6 at 10 a.m. from www.aegpresents.co.uk.

The announcement of the live shows coincides with news on DEEP PURPLE's social media, with Ian Gillan confirming that they have completed the recording of a brand new studio album to be released in 2020, with further details to follow.

Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Steve Morse and Don Airey, Mark VIII of the band, continue to travel the scope of hard rock — the textures and nuances of recent works are anything but thudding retreads. If you set a random play setting for the band's entire catalog, the result is one of the finest musical outputs to grace rock music.

Paice said: "As always, playing in your home country is special and exciting and touring with the 'CULT' ensures it's going to be a great run of gigs."

Gillan said: "It is fantastic to be playing some home shows again… The band is cranking and full of it. Plus there will be a couple or three new songs. Dunno how we're going to squeeze it all in, but we always manage somehow. Can't wait to blow your socks off."

BÖC's Eric Bloom said: "I am personally thrilled to be playing with DEEP PURPLE again. As a fan of their music, I'll be sure to stay and watch their show nightly. Such a deep catalog of great classic songs plus great musicianship and singing. Great guys too. Looking forward to it."

BÖC's Buck Dharma said: "BÖC is excited to return to the U.K. and support DEEP PURPLE, a band we've always admired and who has inspired BÖC to rock since the beginning."

For over four decades, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT has been thrilling fans of intelligent hard rock worldwide with powerful albums loaded with classic songs. Indeed, the Long Island, New York based band is revered within the hard rock and heavy metal scene for its pioneering work. BLUE ÖYSTER CULT occupies a unique place in rock history because it's one of very few hard rock/heavy metal bands to earn both genuine mainstream critical acclaim as well as commercial success.

The band is often cited as a major influence by other acts such as METALLICA, and BÖC was listed in VH1's countdown of the greatest hard rock bands of all time.

The intense creative vision of BÖC's original core duo of vocalist/lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Eric Bloom are complemented by Richie Castellano on guitar and keyboards, and the longtime rhythm section of bass guitarist Danny Miranda, and drummer Jules Radino.

The latter-year DEEP PURPLE has moved progressively into new areas, piquing fans' interest who were not born when the mighty PURPLE machine ruled the music world's money trees. Their holy grail of "In Rock" (1970) "Machine Head" (1972) and "Made In Japan" (1973) catapulted DEEP PURPLE to the top in concert grosses and album sales around the world, with track "Smoke On The Water" ascending to mega-status.

Having amassed so many songs that get coined under the "classic" moniker, setlists have been a never-ending debate among diehards and newer fans especially with the albums "Now What?!" and their last studio album, "Infinite".

DEEP PURPLE with special guests BLUE ÖYSTER CULT:

October 02 - Manchester Arena
October 03 - London The O2
October 05 - Glasgow The SSE Hydro
October 06 - Leeds First Direct Arena
October 08 - Arena Birmingham