Jon Lord

John Douglas Lord was born 9 June 1941 in England and played in several bands - the Artwoods, the Flower Pot Men, Santa Barbara Machine Head - before 1968, when he co-founded Deep Purple. He and drummer Ian Paice were the only constants through the band's original run to 1976, then again from its 1984 revival until Lord retired in 2002. In between and after, he played for Whitesnake and Paice Ashton Lord. His organ work on Deep Purple's hardest records became essential to the band's signature weight and to the early shape of heavy metal itself. In 2010 Stevenson College in Edinburgh made him an Honorary Fellow; in 2011 the University of Leicester awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music. He died 16 July 2012. Four years later, on 8 April 2016, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple.