Ritchie Blackmore Postpones 2025 Tour Due to ‘Medical Reasons’

Ritchie Blackmore‘s band Blackmore’s Night have canceled all of their remaining 2025 tour dates due to unspecified medical reasons.

The former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist’s official Facebook page broke the news on Tuesday with this message: “All Blackmore’s Night shows postponed at this point due to medical reasons. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”

The nature of the medical issue and the band member or members it is affecting have not been announced.

Blackmore’s Night, which trades the electric guitar rock of Blackmore’s former bands for medieval-themed folk music, only played two of the tour’s six scheduled dates – Nov. 9 in Alexandria, Virginia and Nov. 13 in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

The Alexandria show featured a special surprise, as Blackmore broke out a cover of “Child in Time,” from 1970’s Deep Purple in Rock. “We’ve never done that before, and we’re never doing it again!,” the guitarist declared afterwards.

Read More: How Boredom Led to Ritchie Blackmore’s Deep Purple Exit

The planned Nov. 15 show in Newtown, New Jersey was postponed earlier that same day, and a few days later it was announced that the Nov. 20th show in Wilmington, Delaware would also be called off.

The newest announcement postpones the last two remaining dates – Nov. 23 in Cohoes, New York and Nov. 29th in Tarrytown, New York.

A Heart Attack Put Ritchie Blackmore’s Career on Hold in 2023

In April of this year, Blackmore’s wife and bandmate Candice Night revealed that her husband suffered a heart attack in 2023, which put his career on hold. “Ritchie has actually been told by a cardiologist not to get in a plane,” she told Total Rock. “He’s got six stents. …I can’t believe he’s gonna be 80, he doesn’t look it, still doesn’t act it. But eventually medical things catch up with you.”