Blackmore's Night

Last updated

Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night in 2012.jpg
Blackmore's Night in 2012
Background information
OriginUnited Kingdom
Genres
Years active1997–present
Labels Edel, SPV, Ariola, Frontiers
Members Ritchie Blackmore
Candice Night
Website blackmoresnight.com

Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpa, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyricist, and woodwinds). Their lineup has seen many changes over the years; Blackmore and Night have been the only two constant members. They have released eleven studio albums. Their early releases were mostly acoustic and imitated early music, but eventually Blackmore's Night started using more electric guitars and other modern instruments, as well as performing folk-rearranged cover versions of pop and rock songs.

Contents

History

Early

Candice Night was a Rainbow fan, and first encountered Ritchie Blackmore to ask him for an autograph in 1989, while she was working for a local New York radio station. The two started living together in 1991, and discovered they both had a passionate interest in Renaissance music. [1]

During the reformed Rainbow's recording of the album Stranger in Us All in 1995, on which Night contributed some of the lyrics and backing harmony vocals, the duo were already gearing up their debut album. In 1997, the project started as being a pun of their own names, which would consist of themselves plus session musicians.

1997 to 2005

Live in Heidelberg, Germany 2002 Blackmores Night-2001-07-24-Live in Heidelberg.jpg
Live in Heidelberg, Germany 2002

Their debut album Shadow of the Moon was a musical success and featured Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull on flute for the song "Play Minstrel Play". In subsequent albums, particularly Fires at Midnight , there was an increased incorporation of rock guitar into the music, while maintaining a folk rock direction. Over time, Night has increasingly participated instrumentally as well as singing the vocals, and is competent on a wide variety of Renaissance instruments.

The group performs at Renaissance fairs and Renaissance festivals, as well as in stand-alone concert tours in appropriate venues including "castle tours" of Europe, where they perform in historic surroundings for an audience dressed largely in period costume. The duo has been successful enough to inspire a number of international tribute bands including: Renaissance Night, the Italian Morning Star, The Midnight and Elflore.

They have also performed the music for MagiQuest, a live simulation game. [2]

2006–present

Ritchie Blackmore performing in 2017 Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow headlining the Stone Free 2017 Festival at the O2 (34994158240).jpg
Ritchie Blackmore performing in 2017

In 2006, Night performed a duet with Andi Deris on Helloween's "Light the Universe", which was released as a single in certain countries and is available on their album Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy , released in the same year.

On 27 June 2008, the duo released its seventh studio album called Secret Voyage , a mix of medieval-sounding tracks and some contemporary ones. In addition to some covers of some traditional folk music (“Locked Within the Crystal Ball" is from the fourteenth century) and some originals, Blackmore's Night also performed a cover of a Rainbow song (“Rainbow Eyes”) and an Elvis Presley cover ("Can't Help Falling in Love").

A new album titled Autumn Sky was released at the end of 2010 in Europe and in 2011 in the U.S. This was followed by Dancer and the Moon , in 2013, an album featuring covers of songs by Randy Newman ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), Uriah Heep ("Lady in Black") and another Rainbow song (“Temple Of The King”, originally from the album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow ).

Their album, All Our Yesterdays, was released on 18 September 2015. Their latest studio album, Nature's Light was released worldwide on 12 March 2021.

In 2022, Night was featured on the single "We're Gonna Be Drinking" with the German folkrock band dArtagnan from their album Felsenfest (2022). Blackmore's Night had previously made a version of the song on their 2003 album Ghost of a Rose called "All for One". A live version can be found on the DVD Castles And Dreams .

Personal life

On 5 October 2008, Night and Blackmore were married after 19 years together. This is the fourth marriage for Blackmore. [3] Autumn Esmerelda Blackmore was born on 27 May 2010. Their son Rory Dartanyan was born on 7 February 2012.

Personnel

Members

Additional personnel

Current additional personnel
Former additional personnel
Studio musicians

Timeline

Blackmore's Night

Discography

Logo that features on Blackmore's Night's album artwork BLACKMORE'S NIGHT.jpg
Logo that features on Blackmore's Night's album artwork

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References

  1. Christian A. (7 January 2011). "Blackmore's Night – Candice Night (vocals)". SMNnews. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  2. "Blackmore's Night - The Music". The Official MagiQuest Homepage. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  3. Cashmere, Paul (20 October 2008). "Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night Marry". Undercover.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009.