Today we will tell you about the unique and influential keyboardist Jon Lord.
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Jon Lord is one of the greatest synthesizers and the Hammond organ player in the rock world and one of the greatest and most influential keyboardists of all time.
He was born in Leicester England on 9 June 1941 as John Douglas Lord.
His father was a saxophonist who pushed Lord into the world of music from an early age.
Lord is best known and famous mainly as a keyboardist for "Deep Purple", but he was also a member of "The Artwoods", "Whitesnake", "Paice Ashton Lord", "The Flower Pot Men" and the supergroup "WhoCares" which also included Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Jason Newsted and Nicko McBrain.
In 1968 he co-founded "Deep Purple" with Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Paice and was undoubtedly one of the pillars that significantly influenced to the band's sound.
(Photo: Pinterest.com)
Lord was also a gifted composer and among the first and most prominent to combine classical music with rock. Among his great works that combined these two styles are the tracks "April", "Blind" and "Anthem" from "Deep Purple's" second and third albums as well as the full works "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" and "Gemini Suite" .
In 1970, Lord was a major influence to the dramatic style change that "Deep Purple" underwent with the album "In Rock", and proved his superiority in the hard rock style as well.
In 1974 he did it again and was responsible for "Deep Purple's" further sound revolution with the MKIII lineup, imprinting elements from music styles like blues, soul, boogie and funk on the album "Burn".
Lord co-wrote the band's greatest hits and was responsible for, among other things, the perfect playing and immortal solos in the songs such as: "Child In Time", "Highway Star", "Burn", "Perfect Strangers", "Might Just Take Your Life", the amazing opening of "Knocking at Your Back Door" and more.
Also in "Whitesnake" Lord made his mark with dominant playing and an amazing presence in songs like "Here I Go Again", "Wine, Women and Song", "Ready an' Willing" and more.
Lord is considered a groundbreaking keyboardist with a unique, powerful, wild and aggressive playing style, especially in the Hammond organ that he would shake during the performance as a leaf blowing in the wind.
Jon Lord also had an extensive solo career in which he released, among other things, the masterful album "Sarabande" in 1976.
Lord has so many collaborations that are worth mentioning, but the most interesting are: playing the piano in "The Kinks'" song "You Really Got Me", participating in David Gilmour's "About Face" album and playing iמ the albums "Gone Troppo" and "Brainwashed" Of George Harrison.
In 2011 Lord was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent treatment in England and Israel, but these did not help and he died on July 16, 2012, 71 years old.
He's friends from "Deep Purple" wrote and dedicated the song "Above and Beyond" to his memory. Ritchie Blackmore wrote and dedicated "Carry On... Jon" to his memory.
After his death, in 2016, Lord entered the "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame", along with his friends from "Deep Purple".
There is no doubt that Lord has left a heavy mark on generations of keyboardists around the world, who are influenced and imitate his unique and perfect playing even today.
In 2014, a tribute evening was held in his honor featuring many great artists such as: "Deep Purple", Bruce Dickinson, Glenn Hughes, Rick Wakeman, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and more. We invite you to listen to the album that came out following the tribute show Here: