Joe Lynn Turner recently opened up about Deep Purple’s long-running Ritchie Blackmore vs. Ian Gillan tension. He addressed the topic in a recent interview shared on Cassius Morris Official.
Turner was asked directly whether he ever felt caught between Blackmore and Gillan given the circumstances surrounding his entry into and exit from the band. He was asked, “Given the way that you entered the band, like you just mentioned, and also the way that you left the band, did you ever feel like you were caught in the middle of Ritchie’s relationship with Ian in some sense?” He offered a detailed response.
“No, I never felt I was caught in the middle of it at all,” Turner said. “What I was in the middle of it was… and it wasn’t from every member or anything like that. And I’m not going to name names here, but there was some edgy animosity simply because I think Ritchie pulled a power play and just said they all agreed when I ‘auditioned’ that, hey, he’s the right guy for the job.”
“Even though people didn’t understand it, the fans, of course, they never like change,” he continued. “And they thought I was some pop singer. This is what Ritchie wanted to do. And I think maybe they were more angry at the fact that Ritchie was the leader and Ritchie wanted to go in this direction.”
Turner went on to defend the album he recorded with the band during that period. He described it as a mature evolution of Deep Purple’s sound.
“But I think Slaves and Masters came out as a brilliant album,” he said. “It has integrity. It is still hard driving. It is still really really amazing writing. I think somebody said it was let’s see more mature and sort of a polished version you know of of where Purple was going and it’s what Ritchie wanted and I think they had to acquiesce to that.”
He then explained why he believes he was never truly caught in the middle. He credited his relationships with individual band members and recalled a compliment from bassist Roger Glover.
“So no I was never caught in the middle of any of that because Ritchie and I were very close at that point,” Turner said. “Roger and I have always been pretty close. Pacy said the most beautiful thing. And I have the article saved because I think it was just amazing. I’ll paraphrase it by saying he basically said Joe was the glue that held us together. If he didn’t, you know, if he didn’t do this album, Ritchie would have been off someplace else. He said, probably with Joe doing another album of some sort. He says, and we wouldn’t have had the chance to put the actual Purple back together again.”
Turner said he never viewed his role as a long-term one. Instead, he focused on collaborating with Blackmore for the duration of the record.
“And I could see that and I never thought I was like, you know, longevity,” he said. “I figured, hey, I’m here for an album. I’m going to do what I do. I’m going to collaborate with Ritchie, who was the main writer. And I didn’t feel anything like that. I wasn’t in competition, you know. Yeah, maybe it was Rainbow, but as we went over before, you know, you got three members of Rainbow and four members of Purple. You know, there’s going to be a mix there. There’s going to be a mix.”
He concluded by pointing to Deep Purple’s history of shifting lineups. He also noted that reception to the album has warmed over time.
“What always gets me as an upshot is the fact that bands, and I love them dearly, but the Purple was a band that always had different incarnations,” Turner said. “Always. This was their trademark, you know. And this was another one. So, you kind of should just listen to the music. And fortunately enough, I think 30 some odd years later now, I get more compliments on that record by people who said, you know, I hated it at first and blah blah blah, but I put it on the other day and that it’s really I mean, yeah, it’s polished and it’s more commercial, but you still have your Wicked Ways songs like that. You still have your heavy stuff, you know, the lyrics and the melodies.”
“It’s a great album,” he added. “So, that’s what you’re supposed to be looking at really is the music. So no, never had that felt I was in the middle of some kind of stuff. I mean, you know, there was a feeling always of, yeah, we’d like that to to we we wish Gillan never left, but he did. He did.”
Turner’s account fits into a broader timeline that clarifies just how brief, and how consequential, his stint with Deep Purple actually was.
Turner stepped into the Deep Purple lineup in 1989. He took over lead vocal duties after Ian Gillan’s departure amid creative and personal friction that had built up within the band. Blackmore had already worked with Turner in Rainbow, and he pushed for his old collaborator to take the mic. That decision set the tone for the tension Turner later described.
Slaves and Masters, released in 1990, remains Turner’s only studio album with Deep Purple. The record reached gold status in markets including Switzerland and Japan. It initially divided longtime fans, but it has since been reassessed by many as a solid, if different, chapter in the band’s catalog.
Turner’s time with the group came to an end in 1992, just as work began on what would become The Battle Rages On. He was involved in early pre-production for the follow-up record, but Gillan’s return to the fold cut that process short. That closed the door on Turner’s brief but pivotal era with Deep Purple.
That closing chapter underscores much of what Turner reflected on in his interview. His tenure was always framed by the band’s revolving-door history, a pattern he pointed to directly when he said, “The Purple was a band that always had different incarnations. Always. This was their trademark, you know. And this was another one.” It’s a fitting summary of a period defined less by rivalry and more by the shifting chemistry that has long characterized Deep Purple’s lineup changes.
