Earlier today, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore released a statement that he was banned from Deep Purple’s induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame president and CEO Joel Peresman has denied that Blackmore is banned from the event and is allowed to “enjoy the evening and accept the award.”

Blackmore’s official Facebook posted: “Ritchie was honored by the offer of induction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He was discussing the possibility of attending, until we received correspondence from the president of the Rock Hall of Fame, who said that Bruce Payne, management for the current Deep Purple touring band, had said ‘No’..........!!!!!’ Therefore Ritchie will not be attending the ceremony. He sincerely thanks all the fans that voted for him for their support.”

Peresman tells Rolling Stone that Payne is in no position to decide who can and cannot attend the event saying, "There is no way he is banned from the ceremony. That notion we would ever do that is patently untrue. We've never banned any inductee. He is invited to come enjoy the evening and accept the award."

He also reached out to managers for the current Deep Purple lineup and Blackmore to come to an agreement for a one-off reunion. "Deep Purple's manager Bruce Payne told me they were unwilling to perform with Ritchie," he says. "We've had many situations like this in the past and many times these things get worked out for one night, and then they go back to their neutral corners the next day."

Peresman relayed the band's position to Carole Stevens, who manages Blackmore. "I said to her, 'Maybe you can take the high road and reach out to them and see if something can be worked out as far as the performance goes,'" he says. "We would love to have them all play together. We always want to do that. We always want to see the actual inductees that haven't performed together in a long time, if they have the opportunity to come together for at least one night, to do that. We'd like to see it as an organization, and I'm sure fans would like to see it too."

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich has been added as guest at the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York. Ulrich will most likely induct Deep Purple, as both he and James Hetfield have been pushing for the influential hard rock band to be inducted for years.

Deep Purple have been eligible for more than 20 years. The complete list of current and former members who are being inducted includes Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Ian Paice and the late Jon Lord.

Long overdue inductees Cheap Trick, Chicago, and Steve Miller, along with hip-hop act N.W.A are also part of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2016. The five acts, along with other honorees to be announced later, will be part of the 31st annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 8th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. HBO will film the ceremony for broadcast later in the spring. Tickets will go on sale to the public during February, with Rock Hall members receiving early access to a limited number of tickets.