Guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore 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 2016 at Genting Arena in Birmingham, England.

Former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnet has posted the following statement via his Facebook page:

“I've decided to make a public statement in reference to Ritchie Blackmore’s return to rock so that nothing I say can be taken out of context.

“I read a piece a few days ago that twisted my words a bit and I want to be clear… no one is happier than I about Ritchie’s return to rock. I’m excited to see the band he has chosen as he has introduced so many amazing musician’s to the world and I am sure that this will be no different. To this day, I thank Ritchie for giving me a career in an area of music that I might otherwise have missed. To be clear, I would be thrilled to play with Ritchie again but in all honesty, if there were ever to be a Rainbow reunion, the vocalist position would belong to Ronnie James Dio. Unfortunately, Ronnie left us all too soon and that is no longer possible.

“I share in Ritchie’s excitement introducing a new band as I also have a new project with a great group of musician’s (Conrad, Beth-Ami and Mark) that share in my vision for new music as well as my past catalog that includes Rainbow, MSG, Alcatraz and my solo material. We have tours in the UK, Australia/New Zealand and other points in Europe from January through August of 2016. In addition, my band will be releasing an album of new material as well as a bonus disk of re-recordings at the beginning of the year. I hope each and everyone of you can make it to one of our shows. I look forward to seeing all of my friends!

“I promise to keep it in my pants!”

Blackmore has 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.

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.”