t’s one thing to be a great guitarist. It’s another to inspire so many beginners that guitar shops have to put up signs banning your riffs. That’s the legacy of Ritchie Blackmore, whose iconic ‘Smoke On The Water’ riff became a rite of passage for generations of players. But to reduce Blackmore’s career to a single riff would be a massive injustice.
From the classical-rock blend of Deep Purple to the epic soundscapes of Rainbow, Blackmore carved a unique path with bold creativity and unmatched musical instinct. While many of his peers rode the same commercial waves, Blackmore refused to conform. His insistence on pushing musical boundaries gave rise to timeless records—most notably Deep Purple’s heavy-hitting masterpiece In Rock.
But Blackmore’s artistic openness wasn’t just about embracing what he loved—it also meant not holding back on what he despised. And when it came to one particular band, he didn’t mince words.
Blackmore’s distaste for The Police—yes, Sting’s band—was as blunt as one of his guitar solos. In the 1980s, as Deep Purple reunited to bring back some grit to a softened rock scene, Blackmore made his contempt for the new wave trio crystal clear.
During an interview reflecting on the band’s resurgence, bassist Roger Glover noted that the world “needed a band like Deep Purple.” Blackmore doubled down on the sentiment and threw in a jab: “As long as the world doesn’t need The Police, that’s all I care about.”
He wasn’t joking. “Everyone was playing like The Police,” he said. “Can I state here that I hate The Police?” According to Blackmore, the band’s popularity was a symptom of rock losing its edge, and he saw Deep Purple as the antidote.
This wasn’t a comment on law enforcement—it was a full-on takedown of Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland. For Blackmore, the trio represented a slick, safe version of rock that stood in stark contrast to the raw power he believed the genre desperately needed.
Love him or loathe him, Ritchie Blackmore has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind—or to back it up with six strings and a Marshall stack.
