In a brand new interview with Metal Talk, Glenn Hughes was asked about his former DEEP PURPLE bandmate Ritchie Blackmore, who recently played a series of European shows to mark his return to the rock stage. Acknowledging that he has seen some YouTube clips of the revamped RAINBOW, Hughes said: "All I have to say about Ritchie is that he's seventy-two now. If I'm lucky, I'll get to be seventy-two. "Ritchie is an oddball, in all the respect," he continued. "I only wanna wish him a happy life. "He talks about not being happy, he wants to be angry or whatever he wants to do… Whatever he does in his life, he's a strange dude, but I just wanna wish him only the very, very best," Glenn added. "I had a great time working with him, and I hope he continues forever." In 2016, Blackmore resurrected RAINBOW for the first time in twenty years, featuring a brand new lineup that includes the Chilean-born, Spanish-based singer Ronnie Romero. Hughes said earlier in the year that he thought Romero was doing well recreating the classic songs from RAINBOW's and DEEP PURPLE's catalogs. "Singing Ronnie's [James Dio] songs needs a special kind of singer and I think the young chap did a reasonably good job and I think Ritchie may well have found the guy for him. He was certainly a good fit for RAINBOW." Hughes told Hardrock Haven last year that Blackmore originally asked him to be part of the RAINBOW comeback but that he declined. "I said no because [Ritchie] wanted to, funny enough, he wanted to use an unknown singer, and I said, 'It's not me. It's not me to do that,'" he explained. "I very eloquently said, 'No, thank you. I really would like to see you, but I can't do this at the point where I am right now.'" Hughes was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year along with fellow DEEP PURPLE members Blackmore, David Coverdale, Jon Lord, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice.
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