Ritchie Blackmore Reunites With Deep Purple to Play 'Smoke on the Water' — His First Show With the Band in 33 Years
Ritchie Blackmore walked back onto a Deep Purple stage for the first time in 33 years, joining the band for a single song at their headlining concert at Jones Beach in New York on the evening of Wednesday, 12 August 2026. He played only "Smoke on the Water," the 1972 riff that remains one of the most recognised guitar lines in rock. After the song, he was done (Rolling Stone, 13 August 2026).
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan announced Blackmore's appearance to the crowd before the band launched into the track. Blackmore had revealed the plan himself the evening before, in an Instagram post that gave fans roughly 24 hours' notice. His wife and bandmate in the folk-rock project Blackmore's Night, Candice Night, posted a backstage photograph of Blackmore alongside Deep Purple members ahead of the show (Rolling Stone, 13 August 2026).
The reunion carries weight because the absence was total. Blackmore departed Deep Purple in November 1993 and had not made a single live appearance with the band in the 33 years that followed, a stretch of estrangement Rolling Stone reported ahead of the show (Rolling Stone, 12 August 2026; Blabbermouth, 13 August 2026).
His last performance with the band before this week dated to 17 November 1993. That gap, measured against the lifespan of most rock reunions, put the appearance in a category of its own. No second song came, and no broader return has been announced.
Blackmore was also returning from a health setback. He had been recovering from a heart attack and had not played his own live shows since November 2025 at the time of the Jones Beach appearance, according to Rolling Stone (13 August 2026). What drew him back to the stage for one song, with the band he left three decades ago, he did not explain beyond the Instagram post itself.
Deep Purple continue to tour with guitarist Simon McBride, who joined the lineup in 2022 following Steve Morse's departure. The Jones Beach show was part of the band's current headlining run. Blackmore, 81, has not indicated whether Wednesday night's appearance was a one-off or the beginning of anything further.
What gave the moment its charge was the combination of brevity and history. One song, 33 years of silence, and a guitarist who walked on, played the riff everyone was waiting for, and left it there.
