Blackmore's Night


Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night. 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.
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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.
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

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.

2006–present

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 and some originals, Blackmore's Night also performed a cover of a Rainbow song and an Elvis Presley cover.
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, Uriah Heep and another Rainbow song.
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. 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.

Blackmore and Night

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

Personnel

Members

Additional personnel

;Current additional personnel
  • Jessie Haynes – guitars, recorder, backing vocals
  • Bard David of Larchmont – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Earl Grey of Chimay – bass, mandolin, rhythm guitar
  • Troubadour of Aberdeen – drums, percussion
  • Scarlet Fiddler – violin
;Former additional personnel
  • Scott Hazell – harmony & backing vocals
  • Mick Cervino – bass
  • Joseph James – keyboards
  • John O'Reilly – drums, percussion
  • Sue Goehringer – backing vocals
  • Rachel Birkin – violin
  • Alex Alexander – drums, percussion
  • Adam Forgione – keyboards
  • Jim Hurley – violin
  • Marci Geller – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Carmine Giglio – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Mike Sorrentino – drums, percussion
  • Chris Devine – violin, flute, guitar
  • Sir Robert of Normandie – bass, guitars, backing vocals
  • Vita Gasparro – guitar, vocals
  • Squire Malcolm of Lumley – drums, percussion
  • Lady Rraine – harmony vocals
  • Lord Marnen of Wolfhurst – violin, flute, recorder
  • Lady Nancy – backing vocals
  • Lady Madeline – backing vocals
  • Tudor Rose – violin, flute
  • Baron St James – bass
  • Gypsy Rose – violin, backing vocals
  • Lady Kelly De Winter – French horn, harmony vocals
  • The Minstrel Albert – Bagpipes, Renaissance wind instruments, backing vocals
  • Lady Lynn – harmony vocals, shawm, flute, and recorder
;Studio musicians
  • Pat Regan – various string instruments, keyboards
  • Kevin Dunne – drums

Discography

Shadow of the Moon Under a Violet Moon Fires at Midnight Ghost of a Rose The Village Lanterne Winter Carols Secret Voyage Autumn Sky Dancer and the Moon All Our Yesterdays