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Don Airey

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Don Airey

Don Airey (born 21 June 1948, Sunderland, England) has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Colosseum II, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Rainbow, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Early life

Inspired by his father, Norman Airey, Don Airey took a love for music at a young age and was trained in classical piano from the age of seven.[1] He continued his love for music by earning a degree at the University of Nottingham and a diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Music career

1970s work

In 1974 he moved to London and joined Cozy Powell's band Hammer. Don worked on several albums with solo artists and was a session musician on the 1978 Black Sabbath album Never Say Die! Soon after, he joined guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's band, Rainbow, and featured on Gary Moore's solo debut Back On The Streets. With Rainbow he contributed to two hit albums, Down to Earth and Difficult to Cure.

1980s work

In 1980 Airey played on Ozzy Osbourne's first solo album, The Blizzard of Ozz where he had a famous and slightly gothic intro to the song "Mr. Crowley". After leaving Rainbow in 1981, Airey joined with Ozzy Osbourne for a three year stint where he helped with the albums Bark at the Moon and Speak of the Devil. Airey joined Jethro Tull in 1987 for their tour in support of Crest of a Knave. The same year also saw the release of Whitesnake's multi-platinum Whitesnake , on which Airey played keyboards. (The album is known as 1987 in Europe). Soon after he quit the band to record the solo album K2.

1990s onwards

The first half of the 1990s saw Airey's son suffer from a serious illness, so his musical activity was largely on hiatus during this time.[2]

In 1997 he arranged and played on "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina And The Waves, conducting the accompanying orchestra at The Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the contest.

He presently lives with his wife, Doris, and their three children in South West Cambridgeshire. He also worked with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson on one of Dickinson's solo albums, playing keyboards on "Darkness Be My Friend". Airey also played keyboards on At Vance's mastermind Olaf Lenk's first solo album Sunset Cruise. In 2006 Airey featured on Gary Moore's release Old New Ballads Blues contributing to all tracks.

He is currently writing a book about his experiences in the music business.[3]

Deep Purple

Airey went in semi-retirement until 2001, when he joined Deep Purple to fill in for an injured Jon Lord, who has since retired. Airey joined the band as a full time keyboardist in March 2002. He has recorded two studio albums with the band, Bananas and Rapture of the Deep. He is currently travelling with the band on their Rapture of the Deep tour.


Notable Facts

  • His intro to the song Mr. Crowley is one of the most recognized keyboard intros in rock along with Jump by Van Halen.
  • On March 19,1982 he saw the plane that Randy Rhoads was inside of when it crashed into Ozzy's tour bus and hit a tree and finally hitting a house.

Discography

References

  1. ^ Don Airey interview - BBC Wear
  2. ^ Don Airey's profile - Official Deep Purple website
  3. ^ Don Airey interview - BBC Wear
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