Ian Gillan and disliked live albums in general. He tended to go into the studio after the rest of the band had recorded and finished the backing tracks, particularly for "Who Do We Think We Are", to lay down his vocals separately. He had been continually at loggerheads with Blackmore, disagreeing about music regularly, which culminated in Gillan writing "Smooth Dancer" about him. While on tour in Dayton, Ohio, he sat down and wrote a resignation letter to the band's managers, stating he intended to leave the band, effective from 30 June 1973. After his departure from Deep Purple, Gillan retired from
Born Again (Black Sabbath album) in the UK charts. The album also hit the top 40 in the United States. Following the departure of vocalist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice in 1982, Sabbath's future was in doubt. The band switched management to Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's father) and he suggested Ian Gillan as the new vocalist. "That band was put together on paper," guitarist Tony Iommi revealed in the 1992 documentary "Black Sabbath: 1978–1992". "We'd never rehearsed." The band had considered vocalists such as Robert Plant and David Coverdale before settling on Gillan. They even received an audition tape from the then-unknown Michael