Legendary singer and bassist Glenn Hughes has starred in Deep Purple and rubbed elbows with the likes of David Bowie and David Coverdale. All of these influences – and more – are present across his new album Chosen.
Hughes tells MusicRadar: “Throughout my career, and especially in my sobriety for thirty-something years now, I’ve mostly made records in the genre of rock. But they’re always slightly different. I never repeat myself, whereas a lot of my peer group – with all respect – do.
“I like to take a bit of risk,” he says. “I like a bit of a gamble in my work. I like to keep changing.
“In the game of life it’s not comfortable for me to repeat myself, so I keep moving the deck around a little bit.”
Recently, Hughes spoke to MusicRadar about his friendship with David Bowie in the early ’70s, and how he took inspiration from Bowie’s continual evolution as a an artist.
Hughes told us: “The people I really admired, like my good friend David Bowie, always changed. And that’s the way it’s always been for me.
“When Bowie lived with me, he kept pushing me, saying, 'You’ve gotta keep changing. You can’t keep repeating yourself.’ So, I’ve been doing that ever since.
“I didn’t want people to expect – just because I was in a band called Deep Purple – that I’d make that kind of music again after I left.”
This new album is a typical Glenn Hughes affair through and through, with elements of hard rock, funk and soul all in the mix.
If you enjoyed his work with Purple or, more recently, with Black Country Communion and The Dead Daisies, you’ll probably enjoy this, too.
However, Hughes says that he doesn’t intentionally cater to his longterm fans.
“My audience expects me to do whatever I feel is right for me,” he says. “I’m hoping they will get that and tag along with me.
“I’m not trying to alienate my audience,” he insists. “As an artist in Deep Purple years ago, and even before Purple, I was an R&B-based rock artist.
“Those are really my roots. So, with this album, I think that I’m returning to a more ‘Glenn-sounding’ work, which is the organic-ness of my R&B and soulful rock groups.”
Objectively, the record is more about cutting to the core of Hughes’ past than anything else.
As for what’s next in the Glenn Hughes saga, the singer says: “I’ve had the summer off, and now I’m excited to go out again and play my new music.
“I’ll be playing songs I haven’t played in a while, and there will hardly be any Purple songs.Maybe one. I need a break from that after doing the Purple legacy shows.
“It’s time for me to simply be Glenn again.”
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