Don Airey

Don Airey
Don Airey performing with Deep Purple in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Donald Smith Airey
Born	21 June 1948 Sunderland, England
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, progressive rock, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, vocals
Years active	1969–present
Associated acts	Deep Purple, Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Electric Light Orchestra, Gary Moore, Glenn Tipton, Judas Priest, Wishbone Ash, Whitesnake, Ten, Jethro Tull, Hollywood Monsters, Divlje jagode

External video

https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/don-airey Oral History, Don Airey reflects on his first keyboards. Interview date September 29, 2014, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library]

Donald Smith "Don" Airey (born 21 June 1948 in Sunderland, England) has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Saxon, Wishbone Ash, Steve Vai, Colosseum II, Ten, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Rainbow, Empire, Thin Lizzy, Brian May, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Early life

Inspired by his father, Norman Airey, Don Airey took a love for music at a young age and was trained in classical piano from the age of seven.^[1] He continued his love for music by earning a degree at the University of Nottingham and a diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Music career

1970s work

In 1971 he moved to London and joined Cozy Powell's band Hammer. Don worked on several albums with solo artists and was a session musician on the 1978 Black Sabbath album Never Say Die! Soon after, he joined guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's band, Rainbow, and featured on Gary Moore's solo debut Back on the Streets. With Rainbow he contributed to two hit albums, Down to Earth and Difficult to Cure. He was also part of the very influential jazz rock band Colosseum II, with Jon Hiseman, Gary Moore, Mike Starrs, Neil Murray and later John Mole, which also formed the core band that recorded Andrew Lloyd Webber's variations on a theme of Paganini, simply called Variations.

1980s work

After leaving Rainbow in 1981, Airey joined with Ozzy Osbourne for a three-year stint where he helped with the albums Bark at the Moon and Speak of the Devil. He also played on the Diary of a Madman Tour from 1981 to 1982 and appears on Blizzard of Ozz. Airey joined Jethro Tull in 1987 for their tour in support of Crest of a Knave. The same year also saw the release of Whitesnake's multi-platinum Whitesnake, on which Airey played keyboards. (The album is known as 1987 in Europe.) Soon after he quit the band to record the solo album K2 – Tales of Triumph and Tragedy. In it he plays with Gary Moore, Keith Airey – guitars, Cozy Powell – drums, Laurence Cottle – bass, Chris (Hamlet) Thompson, Colin Blunstone, Mel Galley, Genki Hitomi – vocals.

1990s onwards

Airey performing with Deep Purple, 2008

In 1990, Airey recorded keyboard parts for several songs on Judas Priest's album Painkiller. However, as the band wanted the album to have a heavier sound than their previous work, he appeared on only one song on the finished album, "A Touch of Evil."

In 1997 he arranged and played on "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves, conducting the accompanying orchestra at the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the contest.

In 1999 he joined Manchester-based melodic hard rock band Ten where he played keyboards on the album Babylon which was released in 2000. He also toured with the band in support of the new album.

He also worked with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson on one of Dickinson's solo albums, playing keyboards on "Darkness Be My Friend". Airey also played keyboards on At Vance's mastermind Olaf Lenk's first solo album Sunset Cruise. In 2006 Airey featured on Gary Moore's release Old New Ballads Blues contributing to all tracks.

In 2008 Airey released his second solo album, A Light in the Sky and recently it has been announced that another solo album from Airey is set to premiere in 2011.

In early 2014 Airey joined hard rock band Hollywood Monsters where he played keyboards (Hammond B3 organ) on the track "Move On" on the album "Big Trouble" which was released in 2014 on Mausoleum Records. The album features Steph Honde on vocals and guitars, Vinny Appice on drums, Tim Bogert on bass and Paul Di'Anno on lead vocals on the bonus track.^[2]

Deep Purple

Airey went into semi-retirement until 2001, when he joined Deep Purple to fill in for an injured Jon Lord, who subsequently retired from the band. Airey joined the band as a full-time keyboardist in March 2002. He has recorded three studio albums with the band, Bananas, Rapture of the Deep and Now What?!.

Interviewed by Jeb Wright, for Classic Rock Revisited, about the album Now What?!, he said "Well, it’s Deep Purple and there is a Hammond there. There is only one way to go, really. Over the years, I have really worked on my sound, it didn’t just happen overnight. The first two, or three, years I was with the band, I was using Jon’s C3 and it was pretty knackered. I had it refurbished. It’s been put in mothballs now... I much prefer Hammond A-100’s, that’s my choice."^[3]

Personal life

Airey lives with his wife, Doris, and their three children in South West Cambridgeshire. In 1992, Airey's son suffered from a serious illness, causing him to slow down his musical activity until 1995.^[4] Airey is an ardent Sunderland A.F.C. fan.

He has a brother, Keith Airey, who played guitar for the reformed version of The Zombies from 2001 to 2010. He is currently lead guitarist for the London stage show Mamma Mia!

He also has another brother, Paul Airey, who played piano for SlowBone and Rollups. He works with Robbie Gladwell at the moment.

He is currently writing a book about his experiences in the music business.^[1]

Discography

Solo K2 (1988) A Light in the Sky (2008) All Out (2011) Keyed Up (2014) with Cozy Powell Na Na Na (single) (1974) Over the Top (1979) Tilt (1981) with Colosseum II Strange New Flesh (1976) Electric Savage (1977) War dance (1977) with Strife(UK) Back To Thunder (1978) with Rainbow Down to Earth (1979) Difficult to Cure (1981) Finyl Vinyl (1986) with Michael Schenker The Michael Schenker Group (1980) In the Midst of Beauty (2008) Temple of Rock (2011) with Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz (1980) Bark at the Moon (1983) with Gary Moore Back on the Streets (1978) Corridors of Power (1982) Dirty Fingers (1983) Rockin' Every Night – Live in Japan (1983) Run For Cover (1985) After the War (1989) Still Got the Blues (1990) Old New Ballads Blues (2006) with The Snakes & The Company of Snakes Live in Europe (1998) Here They Go Again (2001) Burst the Bubble (2002) with Deep Purple Bananas (2003) Rapture of the Deep (2005) They All Came Down to Montreux (2007) Around The World Live (2008) Live at Montreux 2011 (2011) Now What?! (2013) Celebrating Jon Lord: The Rock Legend (2014) Live in Verona (2014) From The Setting Sun… (In Wacken) (2015) …To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo) (2015) with Living Loud Living Loud (2003) Live in Sydney 2004 (2CD/DVD) (2005)

Guest appearances and sessions 1976 – Babe Ruth – Kid's Stuff 1977 – Andrew Lloyd Webber – Variations 1978 – Jim Rafferty – Don't Talk Back 1978 – Strife – Back to Thunder 1978 – Black Sabbath – Never Say Die! 1979 – Bernie Marsden – And About Time Too 1985 – Alaska – The Pack 1985 – Phenomena – Phenomena 1986 – Zeno – Zeno,[5] 1987 – Thin Lizzy – Soldier of Fortune (compilation) 1987 – Whitesnake – Whitesnake 1987 – Wild Strawberries – Wild Strawberries 1987 – Helix – Wild in the Streets 1988 – Fastway – Bad Bad Girls 1988 – Jethro Tull – 20 Years of Jethro Tull 1989 – Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue 1989 – Crossbones – Crossbones 1990 – Perfect Crime – Blond on Blonde 1990 – Jagged Edge – You Don't Love Me 1990 – Judas Priest – Painkiller 1990 – Bruce Dickinson – Tattooed Millionaire 1990 – Forcefield – IV – Let the Wild Run Free 1990 – Tigertailz – Bezerk 1992 – UFO – High Stakes & Dangerous Men 1992 – Anthem – Domestic Booty 1992 – Kaizoku – Kaizoku 1993 – Brian May – Back to the Light 1994 – Graham Bonnet – Here Comes the Night 1994 – The Kick – Tough Trip Thru Paradise 1994 – Katrina and the Waves – Turnaround 1997 – Quatermass II – Long Road 1997 – Glenn Tipton – Baptizm of Fire 1998 – Colin Blunstone – The Light 1998 – The Cage – The Cage 1998 – Olaf Lenk – Sunset Cruise 1998 – Eddie Hardin – Wind in the Willows (live) 1999 – Millennium – Millennium 2000 – Micky Moody – I Eat Them for Breakfast 2000 – Silver – Silver 2000 – Uli Jon Roth – Transcendental Sky Guitar 2000 – Olaf Lenk's F.O.O.D. – Fun Stuff 2000 – Ten – Babylon 2001 – Mario Fasciano – E-Thnic 2001 – Judas Priest – Demolition 2001 – Silver – Dream Machines 2001 – Rolf Munkes' Empire – Hypnotica 2002 – Metalium – Hero Nation – Chapter Three 2002 – Bernie Marsden – Big Boy Blue 2002 – Rolf Munkes' Empire – Trading Souls 2003 – Silver – Intruder 2005 – Kimberley Rew – Essex Hideaway 2006 – Gwyn Ashton – Prohibition 2006 – Glenn Tipton – Edge of the World 2008 – Judas Priest – Nostradamus 2011 – Saxon – Call to Arms 2011 – Wishbone Ash – Elegant Stealth 2012 – Various Artists – Help! For Japan 2013 – Schubert – In Rock 2014 - Hollywood Monsters -"Big Trouble" 2014 - AraPacis -"A Disturbing Awakening"

References

1. "Wear - The Don Airey interview". BBC. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
2. "Hollywood Monsters Signs With Mausoleum". Rock N Growl Records. May 5, 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
3. "CRR Interview - Don Airey: It’s Deep Purple & There’s a Hammond". Classicrockrevisited.com. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
4. "Don Airey". Deep Purple. Retrieved 2014-07-28.

See also

• Hollywood Monsters Official Facebook

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook