David Coverdale has made more revelations about his experience with Deep Purple’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, referring to the event as an “obscenity” because Ritchie Blackmore wasn’t present.

Coverdale recently said the current lineup of the band had “prevented” the former guitarist’s attendance and that it had “an entirely different philosophy, ideology” that left him with no interest in remaining in contact with them.

In a new interview with Loudwire, he went further, claiming the current band had taken a him-or-us approach to whether they or Blackmore attended the induction ceremony. “It was really ugly what went down,” he said.

“I heard that their manager was doing everything he could to stop Glenn [Hughes] and I from making a speech. Jon Lord's daughter was not there, which we were surprised to see. But when they turned around and refused to go after being announced as inductees if Ritchie Blackmore was allowed to attend, it was just a mockery. … None of them would have been on that stage without Ritchie.”

He repeated his recollection of having called Blackmore and assured him that he’d be protected from negativity if he agreed to attend. “Knowing him, he would have walked in with a fucking water pistol and started a fight,” he added.

“But it was an obscenity that he wasn’t there. I know for a fact that Deep Purple would not have been Deep Purple without Ritchie, Jon and Ian [Paice]. That was the beginning and [so] should it always be.”

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