Ian Gillan in May 2008. On 3 May 2008 Ian Gillan performed at the Jeff Healey memorial concert in Toronto, Canada. He had previously played live with Healey in Toronto in February 2005. He released a studio album entitled "One Eye to Morocco" in March 2009. In the 2010s, Gillan performed occasionally with orchestras in Europe, including rearrangements of Deep Purple songs. Gillan has expressed particular fondness for Armenia and has maintained popularity there since Rock Aid Armenia in 1989, which has led to him forming the supergroup WhoCares as a side-project to Deep Purple. On 2 October 2009, in honour of
Gillan (band) 1978, Ian Gillan turned down an offer from Ritchie Blackmore to join Rainbow, but Blackmore did make a guest appearance for Gillan at their Christmas show. It was the first time Ian Gillan and Blackmore had performed together since 1973. The album was sufficiently successful to attract more attention and in 1979 the band secured a European deal with Acrobat Records. Before a new album was recorded, Byrd was replaced by Bernie Tormé and Barnacle by drummer Mick Underwood, Ian Gillan's former colleague in Episode Six. Torme's "screaming guitar" sound fundamentally altered the dynamics and Gillan took a more heavy