At 71 years of age, he has lived a rich life of music, in sickness and health. But just today, co-founder and keyboardist of leading British hard-rock band, “Deep Purple”, has finally succumbed to his illness.
Last August, Jon Lord announced that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. But he has also made it clear that he was going to battle it whilst continuing to produce music. As a matter of fact, Rick Wakeman, fellow musician and friend said that they were going to write and record an album before Jon became ill.
Jon, who plays for the pioneering band, was always known to be quite the visionary. His contribution to music and classic rock has spawned many hits in the past. This includes Deep Purple’s most famous hit, “Smoke On The Water”. It helped the band sell tons of millions of albums around the world. The band later went on to change the game altogether for heavy metal.
Oddly, Jon first started out with classical piano studies when he was young and his first loves were piano rockers and jazz organists. As a matter of fact, in earlier days (way before Deep Purple), he played in various jazz, blues, and pop groups.
Well, like we said, he lived a rich life of music before dying of pulmonary embolism. Jon leaves behind his wife, Vicky, and two daughters, Amy Cherrington and Sara Lord.
Rest in peace, Jon Lord.
