Ian Gillan

In addition to his main work—performing with Deep Purple and other bands during the 1970s and 1980s—he sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), performed in the charity supergroup Rock Aid Armenia, and engaged in a number of business investments and ventures, including a hotel, a motorcycle manufacturer, and music recording facilities at Kingsway Studios.

More recently, he has performed solo concerts concurrently with his latter career in Deep Purple, and his work and affinity with Armenia, combined with his continued friendship with Tony Iommi since his brief time in Black Sabbath, has led him to form the supergroup WhoCares with Iommi. His solo career outside of Deep Purple was given a comprehensive overview with the Gillan's Inn box set in 2006.

Gillan was born on 19 August 1945 at Chiswick Maternity Hospital in Middlesex (now West London) and grew up in Hounslow. His father, Bill, was a storekeeper at a factory in London, who came from Govan, Glasgow and left school at 13, while his mother, Audrey, was the eldest of four children, who all enjoyed music and singing, and whose father had been an opera singer and amateur pianist. Gillan was a Boy soprano at St Paul's Church Hounslow, his sister, Pauline, was born in 1948. One of Gillan's earliest musical memories was of his mother playing "Rondo alla Turca" on the piano.

He grew up moving between council flats before settling in a three-bedroom semi-detached on a council estate in Cranford, Middlesex. He was fond of animals in his early life, and enjoyed reading Dan Dare comic strips. His parents separated after Audrey discovered that Bill had had an affair that started while he was stationed in the army during World War II.

Ian began attending Hounslow College and stayed there through his early teenage years. He was influenced by Elvis Presley by hearing his records at home and at the local youth club. Gillan briefly attended Acton County Grammar School (now Acton High School) to take his O Levels but became distracted from studies after leaving the local cinema having watched a Presley film, deciding that he wanted to be a movie actor. He subsequently took a job manufacturing ice machines in Hounslow.

Gillan's first attempt at a band was called Garth Rockett and the Moonshiners, and consisted of himself on vocals and drums, alongside guitarist Chris Aylmer, who later went on to work with Bruce Dickinson. The band covered songs such as Tommy Roe's "Sheila" and The Shadows' "Apache". He discovered he couldn't sing and play drums at the same time, so settled on the role of lead vocalist, performing regularly at St Dunstan's Hall, the local youth club. He soon switched to another local band who also played at Dunstan's Hall, Ronnie and the Hightones, who renamed themselves "the Javelins" after he joined. The band played covers of Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, and were early customers of then-local music shop owner Jim Marshall. The Javelins disbanded in March 1964, with guitarist Gordon Fairminer leaving to join what eventually became the group Sweet.