Bassist Glenn Hughes recently joined the Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Show for an interview and admitted that the person who made him wear his iconic white suit was Ritchie Blackmore.
Glenn Hughes is currently the frontman of the supergroups the Dead Daisies and Black Country Communion, but he also played bass for Deep Purple between 1973 and 1976. He joined the band as bassist Roger Glover’s replacement but considered himself a vocalist. When David Coverdale joined, the two shared the vocal duties in the following two Deep Purple albums.
After Deep Purple split in 1976, Glenn Hughes embarked on a solo career. Although he is mainly known for his soulful and wide-ranging vocals, Hughes is also a person who has been pretty enthusiastic about fashion. Throughout his music career, he wore iconic outfits that shaped rock fashion, probably the most remarkable one being his white suit.
Hughes wore his iconic white suit at the California Jam festival in 1974, where Deep Purple was the co-headliner. During the show, the band played in front of 250,000 fans. Since Ritchie Blackmore was known as the Man In Black due to his black suits, Glenn contrasted with the singer wearing his white suit.
In a recent interview with the Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Show, Glenn Hughes stated that he liked wearing cool outfits during shows and chose the California Jam suit because he knew Blackmore would wear a black one. So, according to Hughes, he intentionally preferred a white suit to be in juxtaposition with Blackmore.
During the conversation, Glenn Hughes said the following:
“That California Jam suit — I knew Ritchie was going to wear black, so I got that white, satin suit out, and it was what the doctor ordered for me to be wearing white, and Blackmore was wearing black. So, yeah, I’m a bit of a crazy guy on clothes.”
You can watch the rest of the interview below.
