Ritchie Blackmore confirms new Rainbow line-up for 2016 Europe gigs

Lords Of Black singer Ronnie Romero and Stratovarius keyboard player Jens Johansson will join guitar great Ritchie Blackmore for his Rainbow gigs in Germany and Britain next year (16).
The reclusive rocker recently announced shows at Germany’s Monsters Of Rock festivals and Birmingham, England’s Genting Arena in June (16), and now the new-look Rainbow line-up is complete.
Blackmore will also hit the stage with drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau, who are members of his folk-rock group Blackmore’s Night.
The 2016 concerts will feature hits from Rainbow and Deep Purple’s back catalogues.
Little is known about Romero, who will front the new Rainbow, but Blackmore recently said his chosen vocalist was a cross between late rock stars Ronnie James Dio and Freddie Mercury.
Announcing the news of the shows earlier this year (15), Blackmore told Noisey.com, “I am doing four dates in June, which will be all rock. I have the band basically together and it will be (the best of) Rainbow and Deep Purple. I don’t want to do any more (shows) because I take what I’m doing now much more seriously.”
Since stepping away from rock music in the mid-1990s, the guitar great has been recording and performing with folk act Blackmore’s Night, which he formed with his wife, Candice Night. Blackmore’s Night released a new album, titled All Our Yesterdays, in September (15).