Ian Gillan, is an English singer and songwriter who achieved widespread recognition as the lead singer, songwriter and lyricist for Deep Purple, a rock band that is referred to, along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to be one of the groundbreaking and original hard rock and heavy metal bands of the early to mid-seventies. The band was formed in 1968 as a progressive rock band, but changed style towards a heavier sound, getting Ian Gillan and Roger Glover on board from Episode Six in 1969. The band has undergone several line-up changes, but the second line-up, the Mark II, which includes Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards, backing vocals), and Ian Paice (drums) is the most commercially successful line-up, having written “Smoke On The Water”, considered to be the most influential rock riff of all-times. Fronted by Gillan, the band has released major rock classic albums including: Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Perfect Strangers, The House of Blue Light, The Battle Rages On…, Purpendicular, Abandon, Rapture of the Deep, Now What?! and their recent Infinite. Apart from Deep Purple, Gillan: sang the role of Jesus in the recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, worked with Pavarotti on special occasions, recorded one album for Black Sabbath and formed the Ian Gillan Band in 1975.