During a recent Instagram Q&A session hosted by Candice Night, Ritchie Blackmore surprised fans by expressing his admiration for ABBA.
In a 40-minute conversation streamed live, the guitarist made an unexpected confession. When asked to name his favorite ABBA song, Blackmore didn’t just choose one but instead praised the Swedish pop group for their musical ability, saying:
“There’s too many. I love them. They are incredible. Their progressions and it’s just… It’s a funny story with that. We were in a chateau in France trying to do [Rainbow’s] ‘Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll’ [album in 1977]. We were all very bored. We were sitting around the fireplace — Cozy [Powell, Rainbow drummer], myself, and Ronnie [James Dio, Rainbow singer] — and we were getting a little bit kind of irritated because we were not coming up with any ideas.”
Unexpected Admissions In A French Chateau
Revealing the rest of what happened later, he continued:
“And Cozy said, ‘Okay, I have to own up.’ And we looked at him because we’d been drinking, as usual, and we said, ‘You have to own up about what?’ He said, ‘Are you ready?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘I like ABBA.’ To which I went, ‘Oh my God. I love ABBA.’ And then Ronnie goes, ‘Yes. So do I.'”
From Rock Creation To Pop Appreciation
The musician added, explaining how their admiration for ABBA led to hours spent listening to the group’s hits instead of focusing on their own work:
“So now we’ve all embarrassed ourselves going, ‘Ah, we love ABBA,’ ’cause you’re not supposed to say that. And with that, Cozy runs off to get all the ABBA songs and to play them. And we played, for hours, all the ABBA songs around the fireside in this chateau. We should have been writing our own songs, but it was much better to listen to ABBA.”
The Best Band Of All Time
Blackmore didn’t stop at just sharing a story; he openly declared his love for ABBA’s music, describing it as melodic and fantastic. Despite acknowledging that admiring ABBA might be deemed ‘uncool’ in some circles, he went as far as to call them his favorite band of all time.
In harmony with Blackmore’s admission, Joe Lynn Turner, his ex-Rainbow bandmate, made similar comments in 2023, speaking to Rolling Stone. Turner recalled conversations where Ritchie expressed a desire for Rainbow to adopt a more modern, radio-friendly sound. This shift in musical direction was partly inspired by Blackmore’s love for ABBA, highlighting his appreciation for melody and accessibility in music.
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