aka: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow *
Hertford, Hertfordshire, England
Hard rock, heavy metal
Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow) are a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, active from 1975 to 1984 and 1993 to 1997, and again since 2015. They were originally established with Ronnie James Dio's American rock band Elf, but after the first album, Blackmore fired the backing members and continued with Dio until 1979. Three British musicians joined in 1979, singer Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey, former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, and this line-up gave the band their commercial breakthrough with the single "Since You Been Gone". Over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up. Other lead singers Joe Lynn Turner and Doogie White would follow, and the project consisted of numerous backing musicians. The band's early work primarily featured mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style, but went in a more streamlined, commercial direction following Dio's departure from the group.
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow * (1975)
Rising (1976) Del.Ed.
On Stage (1977) Live, Del.Ed.
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) Del.Ed.
Down to Earth (1979) Del.Ed.
Difficult To Cure (1981)
Straight Between The Eyes (1982)
Bent Out of Shape (1983)
Fynil Vinyl (1986) Rarities, B-sides, Live
Stranger in Us All * (1995) 2017 Rem.
Live in Dusseldorf 1976 (2006)
Live in Köln 1976 (2006)
Live in Nurnberg 1976 (2006)
Live in Munich 1977 (2006)
Black Masquerade * (2013) Live 1995
Down to Earth Tour 1979 (2015) BoxSet
Live in Japan (2015) Rec.'84
Monsters of Rock: Live at Donington 1980 (2016)
Boston 1981 (2016)
Memories in Rock - Live in Germany * (2016) Jap.Ed.
Live in Birmingham 2016 * (2017)
Memories in Rock II * (2018) Live, Ltd.Ed.
Black Sheep of the Family * (2019) Single
The Storm * (2019) Single
