Ian Gillan Purple. By 1969, after having released nine singles, none of which charted in the UK, and finding their style of music too restrictive for him, he decided to leave Episode Six. By spring 1969, Deep Purple had had a top 5 US hit with "Hush", but the band, particularly Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, decided their future lay in hard rock, rather than the psychedelic pop sound of the early band. In June 1969, Blackmore, Lord and Paice went to see Episode Six perform at a pub gig and subsequently offered Gillan the job as new lead singer,
Ian Gillan (football coach) Ian Gillan (football coach) Ian Andrew Gillan is a Scottish-born Australian football coach. He is currently the manager of Malaysian team Sarawak as of early 2018. Taking charge of Ilocos United of the Philippines Football League in 2017, his first time in charge of a fully professional team, Gillan brought in many young players for the upcoming season. By November that year, he had departed the club, with the Malaysian media dispersing rumors that he would be head coach of local side Sarawak for the 2018 season. Eventually, the Australian trainer signed a two-year contract to lead Sarawak on 2