In 1975, Blackmore founded the band The Rainbow. The band included Ronnie James Dio as singer, Craig Gruber on bass, Micky Lee Soule on keyboards, and Gary Driscoll on drums. The band's first album, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", was released August 4, 1975. It was followed by "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" in 1978, with Cozy Powell in drums. On "Difficult to Cure" (1981), The band included the vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, replacing Dio. After several changes in it's members, Blackmore disbanded the band in 1997. 