Ian Gillan

Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born on 19 August 1945; Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist known as the lead singer for legendary rock band Deep Purple, and for his year-long stint in Black Sabbath. He also sang the role of Jesus Christ in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Gillan is considered to be one of the foremost rock vocalists, who introduced into rock music the vocal belting technique. In his prime he possessed a very wide vocal range, extending from the E2 to the soprano high C, or C6, with seemingly effortless and fluid movement throughout and with remarkable force and precision in the upper register. His work with Deep Purple is particularly recognisable for its occasional high-pitched screams and wails.
Gillan was a member of Deep Purple from 1969 through 1973, appearing on such now-classic Deep Purple albums as Fireball and Machine Head. During these years, he also portrayed Jesus Christ in the original version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar.
After leaving Deep Purple, Gillan retired from performing to pursue business ventures. These were all failures, and encouraged by his reception at the Butterfly Ball in 1975 he decided to resume his singing career. He formed the Ian Gillan Band. The early band sound had a distinct jazz-rock aspect which proved unpopular and was replaced by a more high powered hard rock sound as Gillan reformed the lineup and shortened the group's name to Gillan. With the release of Mr. Universe Ian Gillan was back in the UK charts and through several more lineup changes released a string of hit singles and successful albums including Glory Road, Future Shock, Double Trouble, and finally Magic.
Then he announced the band would fold as he needed to rest his damaged vocal cords. In 1983 he joined Black Sabbath to record the Born Again album before rejoining a reunited Deep Purple shortly after completing the Born Again tour in early 1984. He left Purple again in 1989, rejoining in 1992. He remains in the band up to present day.