Deep Purple have had to postpone the rest of their European tour due to a ‘medical emergency’ that Ian Gillan suffered over the weekend.
The band had to pull two shows over the weekend in Leipzig and Hamburg, putting out a statement saying postponing them saying: “Sadly, this follows a medical emergency involving Ian Gillan, who is currently in hospital receiving care.
"We sincerely apologise for the short notice and share the disappointment of our wonderful fans who were looking forward to these shows.”
Following that, they have had to shelve the whole tour – which was to have run through to London dates on 24 and 25 November - at least for the moment.
Gillan himself has put out a message on social media. “Dear Friends, thank you for all the good wishes and support over the last few days… it means the world. I had a medical problem whilst in Leipzig which required urgent attention at the hospital.”
“I was hoping that I would get the all-clear to hang on until the end of the tour, but there are very serious risks involved in me doing so.”
The 81-year-old singer continued, “As a result, and on the advice of my medical team and management, we have made the decision to postpone the rest of the European/UK 2026 tour until further notice.”
“I’m very sorry about any inconvenience this may cause, but it’s in the best interest all round. Thank you for your understanding.” He did not specify the medical problem that originally arose in Leipzig.
With the current lineup all in their late 70s or early 80s (aside from guitarist Simon McBride), fans will be concerned that this really might be it for the veteran band. In an interview earlier this year with Far Out, bassist Roger Glover suggested that unlike other groups, there won’t be a major grand finale to Deep Purple like there has been for some of the contemporaries: “I noticed that bands do this thing about announcing the final gig, (like) Black Sabbath, and we won’t do that.”
“We’ll just go until we can’t go on, and the final gig won’t be announced, because I think, where would we do it? And the stress and the emotion of saying, ‘this is it’. None of us want to face that, so we just go on till we drop.”
