Revisit These 5 Legendary Ritchie Blackmore Guitar Moments When You Need a Pick-Me-up

Ritchie Blackmore has been a part of many legendary bands over the years. He’s been injected into the fabric of rock, leaving iconic moments wherever he turned. His guitar playing was era-defining in its day and remains pivotal in modernity. If you want to be reminded of why this instrumentalist is so important to the genre, revisit some of his most iconic moments below. These guitar parts are way more than just backing instrumentation. They are the most interesting thing about every one of these hits. Forget a chorus, how many of these riffs can you hum along to?

“Burn” — Deep Purple

The guitar work in Deep Purple’s “Burn” is a character in and of itself. Blackmore’s playing here feels like a runaway train. It’s too blistering to wrangle. Sure, the rest of this song is also anthemic, but remove the guitar riff, and it loses all its edge.

“Kill The King” — Rainbow

This song feels like the daunting climax of a movie. Imagine characters all suited up and ready to defeat a big bad with this song playing in the background. They’d be unstoppable. That energy lives and dies by Blackmore’s guitar work. Right from the start, the listener is washed in this lightning strike of a guitar riff.

[RELATED: Watch Ritchie Blackmore Make Surprise Return to Deep Purple After 33 Years]

“Stargazer” — Rainbow

The drum roll coupled with the descending guitar work at the beginning of “Stargazer” is just about the most anthemic thing that has ever happened in a rock song. Blackmore proved that the guitar can bring oodles of character to a track with this iconic moment.

“Man On The Silver Mountain” — Rainbow

Blackmore got bluesy on “Man On The Silver Mountain”. Less shredding than the previous efforts on this list and more rhythmic, this guitar moment proves the diversity of Blackmore’s talent. Blackmore is more than just high-octane guitar riffs. He can also hold down a song with a grounded melodic line.

“Smoke On The Water” — Deep Purple

Of course we have to mention the iconic “Smoke On The Water” riff. Guitar playing would never be the same after this song. I mean, think of all the burgeoning guitarists who wouldn’t have this simplistic guitar riff to practice riffing with if Blackmore hadn’t conjured it up. This riff was bigger than just this song, becoming an icon in its own right.

(Photos by Brad Elterman/FilmMagic)

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