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,
Jill Paice the Palace Theatre, London. Lloyd Webber was required to hire two "unknown American actors" in order to satisfy Actors Equity union rules for the future transfer of the production to Broadway to include the British actors Michael Crawford and Maria Friedman. Paice reprised her role in the Broadway production in 2005 at the Marquis Theatre in New York. She received good notices, but the show closed after only 109 performances on Broadway. Off-Broadway, Paice appeared in the York Theatre Company productions of "Weird Romance" (2004)and "The Gig" (2006). In 2006 she originated the role of Nikki Harris in "Curtains" in