Ritchie Blackmore

“Music should be an escape. It should take you somewhere else.”

“When I'm on stage, I'm a different person. I'm an entertainer.”

“I was always fascinated by the dark side of things.”

“I'm just a minstrel, really. A travelling minstrel.”

“The minute you think you're good, you're dead.”

“I play for myself. If anyone else likes it, that's a bonus.”

“I have a very strange sense of humor. I'm very dark.”

“I'm a very difficult person to work with. I know that.”

“I'm not a frontman. I'm a guitarist. I'm happy to be in the background.”

“I like to be in control. In a band, you're not always in control.”

“I find it very hard to get on with other musicians. I have my own ideas of how things should be.”

“If you're going to be a true artist, you have to be prepared to take risks.”

“The blues is a feeling. You can't learn it from a book.”

“I'm very spiritual, but I'm not religious.”

“I hate practicing. I never practice. I just play.”

“I'm not interested in being a pop star. I'm interested in being a musician.”

“I enjoy playing with a big band. I like the volume.”

“I would say that I'm a medieval-style person. I like the dark ages.”

“Everything is a business. You have to choose what is most important: the money or the music.”

“I think the press, by and large, is a very destructive force.”