Jon Lord Of Deep Purple Dies

Longtime Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord is dead at the age of 71. A statement on Lord’s website said Lord suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism in London after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The statement said: “Jon passed from Darkness to Light...surrounded by his loving family.” Lord joined Deep Purple in 1968, co-wrote several of the band’s all-time anthems, including “Smoke on the Water,” and helped the group go on to sell over 100 million albums worldwide. Lord later went on to become a member of Whitesnake in the late 70s.

July 17, 2012