DEEP PURPLE's DON AIREY To Release New Solo Album In Early 2025

In a new interview with Roppongi Rocks' Stefan Nilsson, DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Don Airey spoke about his plans to release a new solo album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I've always kept the solo… I had my own band. That's how we found Simon [McBride, new DEEP PURPLE guitarist], 'cause Simon became part of my band, and a very big part of it. We started writing together, and it was a very good partnership. And I always had it in my head, 'If Steve [Morse, former DEEP PURPLE guitarist] decides to leave PURPLE, we won't have to look very far for someone.'"

He continued: "But we've got an album in the can that we did before lockdown. We did most of it before lockdown and we finished it after lockdown, put the vocals on after lockdown. And that's in the can with earMUSIC. And I think that's gonna come out at the end of March."

Asked if the upcoming album will feature Simon on guitar, Don replied: "Yeah, yeah, but it's under my name. It's like a solo album, but, really, it's just my band playing it. I think it's gonna be called 'Push To The Edge'."

It is hard to find a name amongst all those that over the last 35 years have left their mark in the history of rock that has not utilized Don's keyboard skills at some point. The list includes OZZY OSBOURNE, RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE, JUDAS PRIEST, Gary Moore, Brian May, JETHRO TULL, BLACK SABBATH and, obviously, DEEP PURPLE, the band of which Airey has been a full-time member for over 20 years.

In 2022, the now-76-year-old Airey told Rolling Stone magazine that there is no concrete plan for him and his DEEP PURPLE bandmates to stop playing live shows.

"We started the farewell tour in 2017. It was due to end in 2019," he noted. "But the thing is, when you're a musician in a band, you think you're in control of it, but you're not. The business is running you.

"Of course, there was so much demand for the band to continue from the promoters and agents that we said, 'Okay, we'll do one more year.'"

Regarding when he thinks DEEP PURPLE will finally call it quits, Don said: "The words of T.S. Eliot [the greatest English-language poet of his generation] come to mind: 'This is the way the band ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.' I think we won't know it's the last gig. We won't have a clue that this one is going to be the last one. That's how it's going to end. It's going to be no big scenario.

"I like what Buddy Guy said. He said, 'Musicians don't retire. They drop.' You do have thoughts about being in the garden and bouncing the grandchildren on your knee, but it's part of your blood system, playing and touring. It's an addiction. I hope I keep playing for a while yet."

DEEP PURPLE's latest album, "=1", came out on July 19 via earMUSIC.