Rainbow

It was in May 1975 that Ritchie Blackmore officially left Deep Purple, of which he had been one of the founders in 1968, to form Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, which he would later rename more simply Rainbow. To do so, he recruited the musicians of Elf, a New York band that had several times taken on the opening slots of Deep Purple's American tours, with the exception of guitarist Steve Edwards. This line-up lasted only a few months, long enough to record the first album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. When the album came out in August 1975, Gary Driscoll, Craig Gruber and Mickey Lee Soule had already left the band. Only Ronnie James Dio continued the adventure with Ritchie Blackmore. Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey and Cozy Powell joined the band in September 1975. This line-up would produce two albums: Rising and On Stage.