May 17th this year was the 40th anniversary of the release of the Rainbow Rising album which featured legends such as Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell and Jimmy Bain. Metal Shock Finland's Mohsen Fayazi recently conducted an interview with American artist, Ken Kelly, who is responsible for creating the front cover of this album. Some excerpts can be read below:

On collaborating with Rainbow: “I have to preface it with what happened before I came to Rainbow. Rainbow itself was a very simple cover to do but I don’t want to misrepresent that. It was a difficult cover, it was a unique cover, but I have to give Ritchie Blackmore the credit for it. He knew exactly what he wanted. So, when I came into his office and after we greeted each other and sat down and started talking about the cover, I believe it comes from one of the songs – the actual reaching of the hand out to the rainbow. I had just been completely overwhelmed with KISS and what I did for them, so I was very prepared when Rainbow called and then I went into their office and they dictated the cover.

So I left the office with a complete painting in my head, I simply had to go home and use the disciplines that we’re taught as artists and do what Ritchie said and that’s what I did. I didn’t think about it much at the time, but it’s stayed alive for forty years, it’s amazing, it’s incredible and it was a masterpiece because that’s what Ritchie asked for. He still knows what he’s doing to this day and he did back then. I would love to say I created everything and it’s all mine, but that’s simply not true.” 

On his current work: “I just finished Manowar’s latest album, they are on tour or just finished the tour and Joey needed it very quickly and I’m currently working steady on heavy metal albums. I’m constantly doing all kinds of things, still a very active artist.“

Check out the complete interview here.