Česky
The legendary rock band Deep Purple will return to Prague’s O2 arena on October 7, 2026
The legendary rock band Deep Purple will return to Prague’s O2 arena on October 7, 2026. The band, which has had a major influence on the development of hard rock and became famous for hits such as Smoke on the Water and Highway Star, will offer a cross-section of their work across the decades. The evening will be opened by special guest Jayler.
There simply aren’t enough superlatives to adequately describe Deep Purple’s contribution to rock music. With over 100 million albums sold and decades of sold-out stadiums and arenas around the world, it’s no wonder that this band’s influence is so highly regarded. The band won the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. Deep Purple are truly the “royal family of rock” with a reign that continues uninterrupted.
With a career spanning seven decades, Deep Purple helped define the hard rock genre and gradually moved into new areas, while retaining their freshness and attracting new fans to the legions that have remained loyal to them since the band’s inception. The famous MKII lineup of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, and Ritchie Blackmore was behind many of the major rock albums of the early 1970s, including “Made In Japan,” widely considered one of the most important and influential live albums of all time.
Known as one of the hardest-working bands of all time, Deep Purple has been releasing chart-topping albums and touring the world since its formation in 1968. In the last 10 years alone, the band has sold over 2 million albums, and their last 4 studio albums have reached number one in Germany four times in a row (all of them also reached the top of the charts across Europe), impressively underscoring that the British legends remain at the forefront of the international rock scene in the new millennium.
In 2022, sad news came of Steve Morse’s departure from the band for personal reasons. Deep Purple decided to continue and approached master guitarist Simon McBride, with whom they played a stylish concert year and thrilled audiences with new energy and verve.
In 2024, Deep Purple returned to the top of the charts when their latest studio album =1 reached number one in three countries. This album is the band’s first album featuring Simon McBride and continues the band’s incredible run of global chart success following the albums Whoosh! (2020), inFinite (2017), and NOW What?! (2013).
Deep Purple teamed up with legendary producer Bob Ezrin for the fifth time (including the pandemic cover album Turning To Crime). The album has received rave reviews and is said to evoke the classic sound of this pioneering band without relying on nostalgia. Its mysterious title =1 symbolizes the idea that in an increasingly complex world, everything ultimately simplifies into a single, unified essence—everything equals one.
Coinciding with the release of =1, the band embarked on a world tour in 2024, which has seen ticket sales climb to over 1 million since 2022, cementing their status as one of rock music’s most sought-after stadium/arena bands.
Deep Purple remained true to their musical roots and created a distinctive sound from an eclectic mix of styles that defines the band today, but which also created a legacy that few bands can hope to emulate. The band has written and produced so many “classic,” well-known, and beloved songs that its audience is very diverse in age and origin—something the band happily celebrates.
As 2025 approaches, rumors of a new recording are swirling, and new worldwide concert dates are being announced daily. These legendary heroes of hard rock show no signs of slowing down and continue to push the boundaries of the genre for audiences around the world.