Ritchie Blackmore Confirms Christopher Cross Filled In for Him at 1970 Deep Purple Show

Blackmore’s new interview puts to rest a decades-old story that even Jon Lord reportedly denied.

Ritchie Blackmore has confirmed in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock that Christopher Cross substituted for him during a 1970 Deep Purple show at the Jam Factory in San Antonio, Texas. The incident, long treated as rock legend and disputed by some, occurred on August 28 during the band’s In Rock tour, when Blackmore collapsed before the second of two scheduled performances and was taken to the hospital.

What Happened That Night at the Jam Factory

Deep Purple were booked for two shows at the Jam Factory on August 28, 1970, one at 7pm and a second at 11pm. Blackmore played the first set, but fell ill before the second could begin. In his own words, he described the onset: “I remember being very miserable, and I was walking down the corridor with Jon Lord to go to the show, and then I felt very dizzy. I grabbed hold of Jon, and he kept me walking. Then I fell down, and they took me to the hospital. They didn’t know what it was. I think it was just pure misery. And they kept giving me shots in the hospital.”

With Blackmore hospitalized, the band faced a choice. According to Cross’s account in The Yacht Rock Book: The Oral History of the Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s, a local promoter named Joe Miller, who was managing Cross at the time, offered up the young guitarist as a replacement. Cross recalled that Ian Gillan was in favor of the arrangement, though Miller ultimately made the call. “Joe pretty much ran the band and was the one who made the decision that it was better to play than not play,” Cross said.

Cross showed up with a Flying V and long hair, already a devoted Blackmore fan. The set covered songs he knew and stretched into blues jams. “They told the crowd Ritchie wouldn’t be there,” Cross said. “It was a great moment for me.” He also recalled meeting Blackmore at the airport when the band left town. “He thanked me for covering for him. He was cool.”

Decades of Doubt, Now Settled

The story has circulated in rock circles for years, but its credibility was complicated by the late Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord, who reportedly denied it ever happened. Cross addressed that tension directly in a Songfacts interview: “This is something that Jon Lord wanted to forget, and I wanted to remember.”

Blackmore’s confirmation, offered in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, effectively closes the debate. His recollection is casual but unambiguous: “I just stayed in the hotel being miserable and [Deep Purple] went on and did the show with, I think, his name is Christopher Cross or something.”

There is a notable discrepancy in the timeline. Cross, speaking in The Yacht Rock Book, placed the incident in 1968 at what he described as Purple’s debut US show. Blackmore’s account and the sourced reporting place it firmly in 1970 on the In Rock tour. Cross’s version also references flu shots as the cause; Blackmore’s account does not mention that detail and attributes his collapse to dizziness and general misery.

Blackmore Back Onstage the Following Night

Blackmore recovered quickly. He resumed his place in the lineup the very next night, when Deep Purple performed at the Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For Cross, the moment remained a personal highlight long before he became a household name. His self-titled debut album, released years later, sold five million copies in the US and earned multiple Grammy Awards, making him one of the defining voices of what became known as Yacht Rock. At the time of the Jam Factory show, he was an unknown local guitarist doing gopher work for a promoter friend.

What we know

• Ritchie Blackmore confirmed in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock that Christopher Cross filled in for him during a Deep Purple show.
• The incident occurred on August 28, 1970, during the In Rock tour, at the Jam Factory in San Antonio, Texas.
• Deep Purple were scheduled for two shows that night, at 7pm and 11pm. Blackmore played the first but collapsed before the second.
• Blackmore was taken to the hospital after falling down in a corridor while walking with Jon Lord.
• Promoter Joe Miller suggested Cross as a replacement, and Cross performed with the band using a Flying V guitar.
• Blackmore returned to the stage the following night at the Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Jon Lord reportedly denied the incident ever occurred, a claim Cross addressed in a Songfacts interview.
• Cross placed the event in 1968 in his account in The Yacht Rock Book, while sourced reporting ties it to the 1970 In Rock tour.

The take

Stories like this one occupy a specific and beloved corner of rock mythology: the unverifiable backstage incident that gets passed down through interviews and oral histories, gaining and losing credibility depending on who’s talking. The Deep Purple of 1970 were at a genuine inflection point. The In Rock album had just been released, the Mark II lineup was finding its footing as one of hard rock’s most combustible units, and the band was still establishing itself in the United States. That context makes the Jam Factory story more than a curiosity. A young, unknown local guitarist stepping in for Ritchie Blackmore, one of the most technically demanding and idiosyncratic players in rock, on what the sources indicate was a significant early US date, is the kind of moment that sounds invented precisely because it is so cinematic. The fact that Jon Lord reportedly wanted no part of the story while Cross treasured it suggests the night carried different weight for different people in the room. Blackmore’s confirmation, however offhand it reads, is the closest thing to a primary source the story has ever had. For Deep Purple historians, it also underscores how chaotic and underdocumented early hard rock touring actually was, a period when band management, local promoters, and sheer improvisation determined what happened on any given night.

Why it matters

For Classic Rock fans, this is the rare case of a long-disputed piece of rock lore getting confirmed by the person at the center of it. Blackmore’s account doesn’t just validate Cross’s story; it adds texture to the early history of one of hard rock’s foundational bands during a pivotal US touring period. It also serves as a reminder that Christopher Cross, before the Grammys and the Yacht Rock canonization, was a working guitarist in San Antonio with enough Blackmore in his fingers to hold a Deep Purple crowd.

What’s next

No further public statements from Blackmore or Cross on the incident have been reported beyond the sources cited. The full interview with Blackmore is available at Ultimate Classic Rock.

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