Members of DEEP PURPLE, together with their management and agent, have issued the following statement related to their non-appearance in Nepal on March 15th, 2013:

"Deep Purple were unable to perform in Nepal due to the fact that their agreed fee was not paid as per the contract they had with the promoter of the show, Richard Coram, of Talent Brokers in Dubai. Despite several assurances, Talent Brokers failed to deposit the band’s agreed fee into its registered escrow account, even though the band’s management allowed extra time for payment to be made.

Deep Purple are deeply concerned that fans may feel that the band have let them down, and that those who bought tickets may not have been refunded. The band wish to make it abundantly clear they were ready, willing and able to come to Nepal. Nevertheless, in view of Talent Brokers’ failure to comply with its payment obligations under the contract, the band had had no alternative but to withdraw from the performance.

Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan states: “I hate it when this sort of thing happens. The first time ever in Nepal and it gets cancelled. I want to assure everyone that our management and agency bent over backwards to make this work. But every promise from the promoter was broken and things dragged on to the last minute and then went past the deadline for our equipment to be delivered.

As everyone knows, Deep Purple will go through hurricanes, earthquakes, riots, and all kinds of hazards – just to ‘get there and do the show’, but you do need competent connections to be able to achieve this. We are truly miserable that we couldn’t get there and would love to come over at the first opportunity. Thank you, Ian Gillan.”

Audio samples from Deep Purple's anxiously-awaited new studio album, NOW What?!, are currently streaming online at this location.

NOW What?! is due out via earMUSIC on the following dates:

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Spain - April 26th

UK, France, Benelux, Poland, Czech, Norway, Denmark - April 29th

North America, Italy - April 30th

Sweden - May 1st

NOW What?! will include the following 11 songs:

'A Simple Song'

'Weirdistan'

'Out Of Hand'

'Hell To Pay'

'Body Line'

'Above And Beyond'

'Blood From A Stone'

'Uncommon Man'

'Après Vous'

'All The Time In The World'

'Vincent Price'

The official lyric videos for their new single 'Hell To Pay' and 'All The Time In The World' can be heard below:

NOW What?! will also be released in a limited quantity with a bonus track and a bonus DVD featuring Deep Purple in conversation plus additional audio material. This edition will be available in a Digipak with a cut out front cover. NOW What ?! will on top be released as double vinyl LP containing 11 tracks plus bonus track, as in the limited edition CD. Ordering info at this location.

An interview with the band talking about the album tracks can be viewed below:

After various songwriting sessions in Europe, the band recorded and mixed NOW What?! in Nashville with producer Bob Ezrin (PINK FLOYD, ALICE COOPER, KISS, etc).

For more details visit Deeppurple2013.com.