Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan is mourning his wife, Bron, who died recently aged 67.
Confirming the sad news, a post on Ian Gillan’s official Facebook page last night (27th November) featured a photograph of Ian and Bron on their wedding day in 1984.
A statement on the Bridport & Lyme Regis News website reveals that Bron “passed away peacefully on 19th November 2022, aged 67 years.”
It described her as “a dearly loved wife to Ian, mother to Grace, daughter to Sheila, sister to Julie and Jill, and a devoted grandma to Rowan.”
Ian and Bron lived together near Lyme Regis, Dorset and they also shared a home in Portugal.
The song ‘Keep it Warm’ on Black Sabbath’s only album with Ian Gillan, 1983’s ‘Born Again’, was dedicated to his then girlfriend Bron.
Eight years later in 1991, Ian penned the solo song ‘Don’t Hold Me Back’ after Bron underwent a heart operation.
Commenting on the ‘Toolbox’ track, Ian said in 2015: “It was about my wife and her heart operation, you know?
“She was in hospital at the time, and ‘we’re breaking into your open heart.’ It’s a pure love song, and I couldn’t have done that on a Deep Purple record at that time. I don’t think I’d have been able to impose my personal passion so much into a Deep Purple song.”
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