Rainbow

Rainbow, aka Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow, are a rock supergroup, formed during 1975 in London & Los Angeles by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. They were originally established with 1/2 of the members of frontman Ronnie James Dio's previous band Elf, but after their eponymous debut L.P., Ritchie sacked the backing members. Ronnie recorded a couple more studio albums with Rainbow-Rising (1976) then Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978), before leaving the group to join Black Sabbath in 1979. Rainbow's early records mostly had mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style, before moving in a more pop-rock oriented direction after Dio left. A trio of British musicians joined the group during 1979-singer Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey and former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover- this line-up producing the hit single Since You Been Gone from their 4th studio L.P. Down to Earth. Rainbow recorded 3 more albums with Joe Lynn Turner, who replaced Graham the following year-Difficult to Cure (1981), Straight Between the Eyes (1982) then Bent Out of Shape (1983)-that sold as well as the band's previous L.Ps. They split up in 1984 then Blackmore reformed Rainbow during 1993 with a new lineup, fronted by little known Doogie White, recording their final, 8th studio album, Stranger in Us All (1995). Ritchie's change in direction, from rock to Renaissance & medieval-influenced music, led to the group's 2nd break up in 1997. He restarted the band during 2015, Rainbow occasionally playing live over the next few years. The group had many changes in membership, each studio L.P. being recorded with a different lineup, Blackmore being the only constant member. Their latest lineup includes Ronnie Romero on vocals, Jens Johansson on keyboards, Bob Nouveau on bass and David Keith on drums. The band were ranked at No. 90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, having sold over 30 million records worldwide.