Roger Glover

Roger David Glover was born on 30 November 1945 in Brecon, Breconshire, South Wales, where his family ran a pub and where he first picked up his musical education listening to the local bands that played there. The family moved to South Kensington in London when Roger was nine, and by his early teens he was playing guitar and forming his first bands while at Harrow County School for Boys, including a group called the Madisons that eventually merged with a rival outfit to become Episode Six — a band that would later feature vocalist Ian Gillan, Glover's future bandmate in Deep Purple.

Glover joined Deep Purple as bassist in 1969, arriving alongside Gillan for what became known as the "Mark II" line-up, and co-wrote or played on some of hard rock's most enduring records, including Deep Purple in Rock, Machine Head and the classic single "Smoke on the Water". After leaving Deep Purple in 1973 he built a parallel career as a producer, working with acts including Judas Priest, Nazareth and Elf, before rejoining Deep Purple bandmate Ian Gillan's band and later returning to Deep Purple itself in 1984, remaining with the group for its ongoing career ever since. He has also recorded and toured extensively with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.

In April 2016 Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple, cementing a career that began in a small Welsh market town pub and went on to help define the sound of hard rock. He remains one of the most recognisable bass players of his generation and continues to record and perform with Deep Purple.