Ian Gillan is losing his sight

Unfortunately, as age advances it is almost inevitable that ailments multiply. So it happens to report that the frontman of Deep Purple, Ian Gillanrevealed that he is losing his sight, adding that he is retiring from the business “it’s not far”.

The 80-year-old Gillan last played with the band in November 2024. I Deep Purple they have a European tour planned for the next months of June and July, with two dates dedicated to Italy, in Pisa and Este (Pd). But, as he revealed in an interview with Uncut, he’s not sure how long he can continue working with his group.

This is what was declared by Ian Gillan: “It’s one of those things. I only have 30% vision. It’s not going to get better. It makes life mysterious. The hardest thing is working on my laptop. I can’t see anything on the screen unless I use peripheral vision. But you find a way. You adapt to it. It’s hilarious, this getting older thing. It’s really funny. Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. I walk down the street and I hear something cut out, clang, there’s something else that doesn’t there’s more. Nothing has changed, except that I can’t pole vault anymore. Other than that, things move a little slower.”

When asked to speculate on what the future may hold, Gillan replied: “I think if I lose my energy I’ll stop. I don’t want to be an embarrassment to anyone. We’re not far from that moment. It takes you by surprise, you don’t really notice.”

Curiously these words of Ian Gillan on the hypothesis of his near end of career they arrive a few days after that David Coverdale – who replaced Gillan as lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976 – announced his retirement.