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Don Airey
Don Airey
	; Don Airey performing with Deep Purple in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Donald Airey
Born	21 June 1948 (age 61); Sunderland, England
Genres	Hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, piano
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Deep Purple, Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Electric Light Orchestra, Gary Moore, Judas Priest, Whitesnake

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, Colosseum II, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Rainbow, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Music career

[edit] 1970s work

In 1974 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 and John Mole which also formed the core band that recorded Andrew Lloyd Webber's variations on a theme of Paganini, simply called 'variations'.

[edit] 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 did play on the Diary of a Madman Tour from 1981–82 and appears on both Blizzard of Ozz & Diary of a Madman. 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.

[edit] 1990s onwards

The first half of the 1990s saw Airey's son suffer from a serious illness, so his musical activity was largely on hiatus during this time.^[2]

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.

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.

Airey lives with his wife, Doris, and their three children in South West Cambridgeshire.

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

[edit] Deep Purple

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

[edit] Discography

1974 – Cozy Powell – "Na Na Na" (single)
1976 – Babe Ruth – Kid's Stuff
1976 – Colosseum II – Strange New Flesh
1977 – Colosseum II – Electric Savage
1977 – Colosseum II – War Dance
1977 – Andrew Lloyd Webber – Variations
1978 – Jim Rafferty – Don't Talk Back
1978 – Strife – Back to Thunder
1978 – Black Sabbath – Never Say Die!
1979 – Gary Moore – Back on the Streets
1979 – Rainbow – Down to Earth
1979 – Cozy Powell – Over the Top
1980 – Michael Schenker Group – The Michael Schenker Group
1980 – Bernie Marsden – And About Time Too
1981 – Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz
1981 – Cozy Powell – Tilt
1981 – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure
1981 – Rainbow – Finyl Vinyl (compilation album – 1986)
1982 - Gary Moore - Corridors of Power
1983 – Gary Moore – Dirty Fingers
1983 – Gary Moore – Rockin' Every Night - Live in Japan
1983 – Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon
1985 – Alaska – The Pack
1985 – Phenomena – Phenomena
1985 – Gary Moore – Run For Cover
1986 – Zeno – Zeno
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 – Don Airey – K2
1989 – Gary Moore – After the War
1989 – Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
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 – Gary Moore – Still Got the Blues
1990 – Tigertailz – "Bezerk"
1992 – Cozy Powell – Let the Wild Run Free
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 – Quatarmass II – Long Road
1997 – Glenn Tipton – Baptizm of Fire
1998 – Colin Blunstone – The Light
1998 – Crossbones – Crossbones
1998 – The Cage – The Cage
1998 – Olaf Lenk – Sunset Cruise
1998 – Eddie Hardin – Wind in the Willows (live)
1998 – The Snakes – Live in Europe
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 AD
2000 – Company of Snakes – Burst The Bubble
2001 – Mario Fasciano – E-Thnic
2001 – Judas Priest – Demolition
2001 – Silver – Dream Machines
2001 – Rolf Munkes' Empire – Hypnotica
2001 – Company of Snakes – Here They Go Again
2002 – Metalium – Hero Nation Chapter Three
2002 – Bernie Marsden – Big Boy Blue
2002 – Rolf Munkes' Empire – Trading Souls
2003 – Deep Purple – Bananas
2003 – Living Loud – Living Loud
2003 – Silver – Intruder
2005 – Kimberley Rew – Essex Hideaway
2005 – Deep Purple – Rapture of the Deep
2006 – Gary Moore – Old New Ballads Blues
2006 - Glenn Tipton - Edge of the World
2008 – Don Airey – Light In The Sky
2008 – Judas Priest – Nostradamus

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Don Airey interview – BBC Wear
^ Don Airey's profile – Official Deep Purple website

[edit] External links

Official website

[Don_Airey_interview-0] Don Airey interview – BBC Wear

[1] Don Airey's profile – Official Deep Purple website

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[2]

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