Quotes from Ian Gillan

I have to think that 'Nessa Dorma' is the greatest rock ballad that's never been recorded as such.

I've tried to avoid the rock & roll highway and have taken the scenic route. I think all the guys have been more concerned with the music and the band's legacy than with the commercial aspects of life.

My grandad was an opera singer, my uncle a jazz musician; I was a boy soprano in the church choir. But the first performance with Deep Purple was something I'll never forget. All elements were working brilliantly.

I hate it in America where the protocol seems to be you are expected to tip regardless of the quality of service. I like to tip when it's not being demanded of me, and if the service has been good, I tip quite generously.

What happens is we finish the show, have a couple of drinks, go back to the hotel, talk, and that's it.

I don't think happiness comes with money, but if you are hungry, you can't be as happy as if you aren't hungry.

When I'm writing with Tony Iommi, for example, still it's very easy. We go in, and I know exactly what his style is. It's very distinctive, and you know exactly what he's looking for, and we know exactly where we're going from the first chord.

I'm very grateful for the other bands and artists that stood up for us with a view to our induction - that's nice of them. But I wish that the Hall Of Fame had had the discretion to ask us first. It's now become a debate in which we are too late to have the final word.

The thing to remember when you're re-recording pieces from the past is that you have to have respect for the original performances, recordings, and arrangements.

An album represents an artist or a band or a group of musicians at any given moment in time. You just produce the music that you feel good about and hope that the audience shows some interest in it.

When you're young, you're immortal, or so you think, and you never think there will be problems ahead.

If you've got a wound, and it's just about to heal up, and it's got a nice scab on it, and you think in two or three days, that's gonna be completely healed, then somebody comes along and pokes it with a stick, and it opens up again. And that's what happens with the Ritchie-and-Deep Purple situation.

I have been touring since I got my first band in 1962, so there is no problem there. We are basically performing musicians, so that's what we do.

Our partying was governed by licensing hours. When the pub or club shut, that would be it.

Infinity is almost impossible for an eight-year-old to grasp. It's an inquiring age, and you're beginning to shape your thoughts and questions about life in general at that stage.

We always used to describe ourselves as an instrumental band. Basically, the music was always instrumentally based, so the songs always came later.

There's a wonderful woodland, spiritual song I wrote in Undercliff in Lyme Regis, and I used to walk up there with my dog and always come back with an idea.

I once wrote a song called 'No Laughing in Heaven,' which was about not wanting to go to Heaven due to the company I'd be keeping, and with a few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is pretty much the same thing.

Singles - we hated it, going on 'Top Of The Pops' and all that rubbish.

I'm completely irresponsible, I'm afraid. I'm ignorant about money as a commodity - I have never really understood it.

The one thing nobody was taught was how to deal with success, and I think that happens to everyone who makes it at a young age.

When I was in my formative years, I rejected Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, and Dean Martin. I now realise they were all great artists, but at the time, as a young man, you have to clear the decks.

Heavy metal drives me bonkers, it makes me want to vomit, heavy metal really is a pile of puke.

It means a lot to a lot of people, 'Smoke On The Water.'