Ian Gillan admits Deep Purple’s Goodbye Tour Was ‘Just a joke’ reveals when they will retire

Ian Gillan revealed that Deep Purple never intended to retire, despite naming their 2017 tour “The Long Goodbye.”

In a recent interview with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, Gillan explained the reasoning behind the tour’s name. “That was a joke, actually, because it was the promoters,” Gillan admitted.

“Someone said, ‘We’ve got to sell some more tickets.’ And it’s the good old standby, the farewell tour. So I said, ‘OK, we’ll call it a ‘goodbye’ tour, but let’s call it ‘the long goodbye,’ and let’s make the emphasis on the word ‘long,’ so it’s kind of an enigmatic phrase.”

This explanation contrasts with Gillan’s statement from six years ago when he claimed that the tour name was chosen because the band was contemplating retirement.

At the time, guitarist Steve Morse added to the speculation by saying, “For me, personally, it’s a farewell tour.” Morse later left the band in 2022.

In his conversation with Trunk, Gillan made it clear that Deep Purple has no plans to slow down. “There’s no intention to stop,” he stated. “We’re already booked to the end of ’26, in the planning stage, in the diary, with all the projects we’ve got for Deep Purple. So, yeah, years to come, hopefully.”

When Will Deep Purple Retire?

In a recent conversation with UCR’s Matt Wardlaw, Ian Gillan hinted at when he might consider retiring.

“As soon as you start feeling unable to deliver at that [high] level—of course, you adjust, of course, you adapt and make do the best you can. But when the energy level goes, that’s time to stop because then it gets embarrassing and nobody wants that,” Gillan explained. “But so far, so good.”

Deep Purple’s North American tour wraps up on September 9 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After that, they’ll head to South America and Europe for additional tour dates, which will run through the end of the year.

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