Billy Corgan, the Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman, recently sat down with Revolver for an in-depth interview in which he discussed the 11 greatest heavy-metal bands and guitarists of all time. Ritchie Blackmore, an essential person in Corgan’s musical path and a guitar player who stood out among his colleagues, was among his choices. Corgan’s love of Deep Purple and Rainbow music, as well as his affection for Blackmore, runs deep. Billy Corgan noticed Blackmore’s transition from blues to hard rock to melodic guitar playing from his early exposure to Rainbow’s ‘Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow’ album. In Corgan’s opinion, Ritchie’s obvious growth was a major aspect in not only his success but also his influence on an entire generation of guitarists. The leader also stated that Blackmore’s music could be heard on the radio, which is not true of most performers and bands. As a result of composing melodies that resonated with a wider audience, he established the benchmark for what rock tracks could be as they entered the mainstream.
The following are Billy Corgan’s thoughts on Ritchie Blackmore: “Maybe a controversial choice, but here’s why it isn’t: Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and I got the impression, and I don’t know the inside story, but there were some creative differences.” Ritchie took what was essentially the template of hard rock in the early 1970s and made it much more popular and successful. Of course, I witnessed the tour in 1981 at Alpine Valley, where I was trapped and had no transport home, first with Ronnie James Dio and then with Joe Lynn Turner. It was an hour and a half back to my house, and I was 14 years old, so that’s a good story to tell, but yeah, Ritchie Blackmore is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, in my opinion.”
He went on to say: “I think what’s amazing about Ritchie Blackmore as a guitarist is his transition from kind of a blues guitarist to a hard rock guitarist to a melodic guitarist; not only did he influence an entire generation of guitarists, but of course, Yngwie Malmsteen being the most prominent among them, but he always wrote music that, at the end of the day, you could play on the radio, and I think that’s really what distinguishes a lot of the great guitar players. Although Corgan thinks Blackmore’s time with Deep Purple was influential, he believes it may have limited his creative potential. His shift to Rainbow allowed him to stretch the boundaries, not to mention his enormous influence, which influenced other guitarists, most notably Yngwie Malmsteen. Overall, Ritchie’s ability to appeal to an audience other than the technical crowd demonstrated that he was a talent who effectively achieved a balance between his skills and the ability to reach a diverse audience.