57 Facts About Jon Lord

John Douglas Lord was an English keyboardist and composer.

In 1968, Jon Lord co-founded the hard rock band Deep Purple, and he became regarded as its leader in the early years.

Jon Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer Ian Paice were the only continuous presence in the band between 1968 and 1976, and from when it was re-established in 1984, until Jon Lord's retirement in 2002.

Jon Lord spent time in the bands Whitesnake, Paice Ashton Lord, the Artwoods, the Flower Pot Men and Santa Barbara Machine Head.

Jon Lord became known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with Deep Purple.

Jon Lord was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 8 April 2016 as a member of Deep Purple.

Jon Lord was born in Leicester on 9 June 1941 to Miriam and Reginald Jon Lord, growing up at 120 Averil Road and retaining a strong bond with the city throughout his life.

Jon Lord's father was an amateur saxophonist and encouraged Lord from an early age.

Jon Lord studied classical piano from the age of five, with a local teacher, Frederick Allt, and this focus on a classical grounding to his material was a recurring trademark in his work, both in composition, arranging and his instrumental solos on piano, organ and electronic keyboards.

Jon Lord attended Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys between 1952 and 1958 where he gained O Level passes in French, music and mathematics, participated in amateur dramatics and the school choir alongside his organ and piano studies and then worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office for two years.

Jon Lord absorbed the blues sounds that played a key part in his rock career, principally the raw sounds of the great American jazz and blues organists, such as Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and "Brother" Jack McDuff, as well as the stage showmanship of Jerry Lee Lewis and performers like Buddy Holly, whom he saw perform at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester in March 1958.

Jon Lord stated that he was heavily influenced by the organ-based progressive rock played by Vanilla Fudge after seeing that band perform in Great Britain in 1967, and earlier by the personal direction he received from British organ pioneer Graham Bond.

Small acting parts followed, including in the British TV series, Emergency - Ward 10, and Jon Lord continued playing the piano and the organ in nightclubs and as a session musician to earn a living.

Jon Lord started his band career in London in 1960 with the jazz ensemble The Bill Ashton Combo.

Jon Lord next founded the blues-influenced Santa Barbara Machine Head, featuring Art's brother, Ronnie Wood, writing and recording three powerful keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, giving a preview of the future style of Deep Purple.

Soon thereafter, Jon Lord went on to cover for the keyboard player Billy Day in The Flower Pot Men, where he met the bass guitarist Nick Simper along with drummer Carlo Little and guitarist Ged Peck.

In early 1967, through his roommate Chris Curtis of the Searchers, Jon Lord met businessman Tony Edwards who was looking to invest in the music business alongside partners Ron Hire and John Coletta.

Edwards was impressed enough by Jon Lord to ask him to form a band after Curtis faded out.

Jon Lord did session work in the late 1960s with the band "Boz", along with Blackmore and Paice, given that Boz was being produced by Derek Lawrence who produced Deep Purple's first three albums.

Jon Lord loved the sound of an RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord, which he used on such songs as "Demon's Eye" and "Space Truckin'".

Jon Lord kept this particular Hammond C3 until his retirement from the band in 2002, when he passed it to successor Don Airey.

In early Deep Purple recordings, Jon Lord had appeared to be the leader of the band.

On Deep Purple's second and third albums, Jon Lord began indulging his ambition to fuse rock with classical music.

Jon Lord's ambition enhanced his reputation among fellow musicians, but caused tension within the group.

Ian Gillan said that Jon Lord provided the idea on the main organ riff for "Child in Time" although the riff was based on It's a Beautiful Day's 1969 psychedelic hit song "Bombay Calling".

Jon Lord rarely ventured into the synthesizer territory on Purple albums, often limiting his experimentation to the use of the ring modulator with the Hammond, to give live performances on tracks like Space Truckin' a distinctive 'spacey' sound.

Jon Lord continued to focus on his classical aspirations alongside his Deep Purple career.

Jon Lord created an informal group of friends and collaborators including Ashton, Paice, Bernie Marsden, Boz Burrell and later, Bad Company's Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and others.

Jon Lord guested as one of several keyboard players on the live performance of David Bedford's The Odyssey at the Royal Albert Hall in 1977.

Eager to pay off a huge tax bill upon his return the UK in the late-1970s, Jon Lord joined former Deep Purple band member David Coverdale's new band, Whitesnake in August 1978.

Jon Lord added a Yamaha CP-70 electric piano to his set-up and finally a huge bank of synthesizers onstage courtesy of Moog so he could play the 12-bar blues the band often required and recreate string section and other effects.

Jon Lord later expressed frustration that he was a poorly paid hired-hand, but fans saw little of this discord and Whitesnake's commercial success kept him at the forefront of readers' polls as heavy rock's foremost keyboard maestro.

Jon Lord's dissatisfaction smoothed the way for the reformation of Deep Purple Mk II in 1984.

Additionally, Jon Lord was commissioned by producer Patrick Gamble for Central Television to write the soundtrack for their 1984 TV series, Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, based on the book by Edith Holden, with an orchestra conducted by Alfred Ralston and with a distinctly gentle, pastoral series of themes composed by Jon Lord.

Jon Lord was asked to guest on albums by friends George Harrison and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Cozy Powell and to play on an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic, Wind in the Willows.

Jon Lord composed and produced the score for White Fire, which consisted largely of two songs performed by Limelight.

Some musicians, including Jon Lord, took part in York's TV musical extravaganza Superdrumming between 1987 and 1989.

Jon Lord signed to Virgin Classics to release it, and perhaps saw it as the first stage in his eventual departure from Purple to embark on a low-key and altogether more gentle solo career.

Jon Lord finally retired from Deep Purple amicably after their UK tour in February 2002, preceded by a knee injury that eventually resolved itself without surgery and which brought keyboardist Don Airey into the band, initially as his temporary replacement.

Jon Lord even dedicated a song to it on 2004's solo effort, Beyond the Notes, called "De Profundis".

Jon Lord collaborated with former ABBA superstar and family friend Frida on the 2004 track, "The Sun Will Shine Again", and performed with her across Europe.

Jon Lord subsequently performed European concerts to premiere the 2007-scheduled orchestral piece Boom of the Tingling Strings.

Jon Lord was happy to support the Sam Buxton Sunflower Jam Healing Trust and in September 2006, performed at a star-studded event to support the charity led by Ian Paice's wife, Jacky.

Jon Lord played piano on George Harrison's posthumously released Brainwashed album and became an important member of Harrison's social circle in Oxfordshire, the two having first met at Abbey Road studios in the late 1960s.

Jon Lord released his solo album To Notice Such Things on 29 March 2010.

Jon Lord had been commissioned to compose a concerto for Hammond organ and orchestra with special parts for tympani.

In July 2011, Jon Lord performed his final live concert appearance, the Sunflower Jam at the Royal Albert Hall, where he premiered his joint composition with Rick Wakeman.

Up until 2011, Jon Lord had been working on material with recently formed rock supergroup WhoCares, featuring singer Ian Gillan from Deep Purple, guitarist Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, second guitarist Mikko Lindstrom from HIM, bassist Jason Newsted formerly from Metallica and drummer Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden, specifically the composition "Out of My Mind," in addition to new compositions with Steve Balsamo and a Hammond Organ Concerto.

Jon Lord subsequently cancelled a performance of his Durham Concerto in Hagen, Germany, for what his website said was a continuation of his medical treatment.

Jon Lord's second wife, Vickie Gibbs, was a former girlfriend of Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes and twin sister of Ian Paice's wife, Jacky Paice.

Jon Lord's interment was at the new churchyard of Saint Mary the Virgin Church in Hambleden.

Jon Lord was in a band called the Artwoods years ago, with Ronnie Wood's brother Arthur.

Jon Lord was over there doing some orchestral stuff, and we talked in the bar for awhile.

Jon Lord's playing not only stood out from the pack, it held up over time.

Later, Jon Lord wanted me to play on his solo album, Gemini Suite, but that was around the time ELP were breaking big and we were touring.

Jon Lord was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple in April 2016.

In May 2019 Jon Lord was posthumously awarded an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement along with the surviving members of the Deep Purple MK II line up, at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.