JOE LYNN TURNER Claims RAINBOW Legend Tried To Prevent Son From Using 'BLACKMORE' Name

Joe Lynn Turner has spoken to Classic Rock magazine about Ritchie Blackmore's reaction to OVER THE RAINBOW, the band featuring Turner (vocals),Jürgen "J.R." Blackmore (guitar),Greg Smith (bass),Paul Morris (keyboards) and Bobby Rondinelli (drums).

"At first Ritchie was fine about it all," he said. "Then certain people — two of them — who are very close to him started to put ideas into his head.

"Then Ritchie suddenly became very antagonistic. Things got so bad that he insisted Jürgen — his own son — couldn't use the name 'Blackmore.' Jürgen's full name is Jürgen Richard Blackmore — it says so on his birth certificate.

"So, he ended up sending a copy of that to Ritchie, to prove he had every right to the name. Thankfully, that's all behind us now, and everything's back on an even keel."

Read more from Classic Rock magazine.

OVER THE RAINBOW is:

Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW 1980-1984) - Vocals
Bobby Rondinelli (RAINBOW 1980-1983) - Drums
Greg Smith (RAINBOW 1994-1997) - Bass
Jürgen "J.R." Blackmore - Guitar
Paul Morris (RAINBOW 1994-1997) - Keyboards

Paul Morris replaced Tony Carey, the original keyboardist for OVER THE RAINBOW, prior to the band's performance in front of 12,000 fans at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 4, 2009 in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

Like all members of OVER THE RAINBOW (with the exception of guitarist Jürgen "J.R." Blackmore),Paul Morris was also a member of RAINBOW. He recorded and toured with them from 1994 through 1997.

In the '70s, '80s and '90s, RAINBOW released over 20 albums (five gold, four silver),seven Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock tracks, six Top 75 U.K. songs and at least seven MTV frequently played videos. Since 1998, former members of RAINBOW and their respective management offices were overloaded with requests for RAINBOW to reunite. Rondinelli, Smith and Turner agreed that the only legitimate way to accomplish this was to employ a Blackmore on guitar.

Jürgen Blackmore is a critically acclaimed guitarist in his own right and agreed to join this endeavor after realizing how intense the demand was for a RAINBOW "reunion." OVER THE RAINBOW marks the first time that four members from three different eras of RAINBOW have taken the stage together along with J.R. Blackmore.

Fan-filmed video footage of OVER THE RAINBOW performing the RAINBOW classic "Street of Dreams" on July 10, 2009 at the Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, Pennsylvania can be viewed below (courtesy of "Trouble9177").