Metal Shock Finland's Alison Booth has issued an exclusive interview conducted with new Rainbow vocalist, Ronnie Romero. It is his first ever spoken interview conducted in English since being announced as the band’s vocalist.

On being given the role as Rainbow’s vocalist, Ronnie states: “It’s fantastic and I’m very excited for this new adventure! It’s really a gift for me because I’m a really really big fan of Ritchie Blackmore, all his work. I’m really excited, it’s like a dream for me.”

Discussing working with Ritchie, Ronnie reveals: “We had some jamming sessions and some new ideas for the songs. Ritchie is different from what the people think – it’s very easy because Ritchie is a very very nice guy and he’s a legend, he knew everything about rock and roll. So all you can do is learn about it, his history and the way he sees the scene. He always teaches me, he’s like a mentor for me.”

Read/listen to the complete interview at this location.

Rainbow will be back to the stages of rock in 2016. Two shows in Germany were recently confirmed, taking place at the Monsters Of Rock Festival 2016 on June 18th and Loreley, Freilichtbühneon on June 17th. A UK date has also been confirmed. It will take place on Saturday, June 25th at Genting Arena in Birmingham, England.

Blackmore has since revealed his band lineup for these exclusive shows, which will include singer Ronnie Romero, keyboardist Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), drummer David Keith (Blackmore’s Night) and bassist Bob Nouveau. The first official band photo can be viewed above.

Blackmore recently spoke with Billboard.com about these special shows:

“I’m now 70, so I just felt like playing some rock ‘n’ roll for a few days. We’re going to do four or five dates of just playing the old rock stuff, Purple stuff and Rainbow. I’m doing it for the fans, for nostalgia, and the singer I found is very exciting; he’s a cross between Dio meets Freddie Mercury. So this will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I’m sure he’ll become pretty famous because of his voice.”