During a recent Instagram Q&A session hosted by Candice Night, Ritchie Blackmore surprised fans by expressing his love for ABBA.
During a 40-minute live conversation, the guitarist made an unexpected confession. When asked to name his favorite ABBA song, Blackmore praised the Swedish pop group’s musical ability rather than naming a single song.
He said, “There are too many. I adore them. They’re incredible. Their progressions are just That’s a funny story. We were in a chateau in France, attempting to recreate [Rainbow’s] ‘Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll‘ [album from 1977], We were all extremely bored. We were sitting around the fireplace — Cozy [Powell, Rainbow drummer], myself, and Ronnie [James Dio, Rainbow singer] — and we were getting a little bit kind of irritated because we were not coming up with any ideas.”
Ritchie Blackmore Unexpected Admissions In A French Chateau
He proceeded to reveal the rest of what happened later, “And Cozy said, ‘Okay, I have to own up.'” And we looked at him because we’d been drinking, as usual, and said, “You have to admit to what?” He asked, ‘Are you ready?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He stated, ‘I like ABBA.’ To which I replied, “Oh my God.” ‘I love ABBA.’ And then Ronnie says, ‘Yes. “So do I.”
From Rock Creation To Pop Appreciation
The musician went on to explain how their admiration for ABBA led to hours of listening to the group’s hits rather than focusing on their work.
“So now we’ve all embarrassed ourselves by saying, ‘Ah, we love ABBA,’ ’cause you’re not supposed to. And with that, Cozy rushes off to get all of the ABBA songs and play them. We spent hours playing all of the ABBA songs around the fireside in this chateau. We should have written our songs, but it was far better to listen to ABBA.”
The Best Band Of All Time
Blackmore didn’t just tell a story; he openly expressed his admiration for ABBA’s music, describing it as melodic and fantastic. Even though admiring ABBA may be considered ‘uncool’ in some circles, he went so far as to call them his favorite band of all time.
Joe Lynn Turner, Blackmore’s ex-Rainbow bandmate, made similar comments to Rolling Stone in 2023. Turner recalled conversations in which Ritchie expressed a desire for Rainbow to adopt a more contemporary, radio-friendly sound. This shift in musical direction was influenced in part by Blackmore’s love of ABBA. It emphasized his appreciation for melody and accessibility in music.
