Deep Purple delivered their most personal performance when they took to the stage to honour their late bandmate, the pioneering keyboardist Jon Lord. The natural choice for the tribute was the heartbreaker that Lord co-wrote with the band, “When a Blind Man Cries”. Frontman Ian Gillan delivered one of his most poignant vocal performances, with the lyrics taking on a new meaning. The band meanwhile performed a lush arrangement with the 83-piece Orion Orchestra, which was conducted by Paul Mann. Fans called it “One of the greatest songs ever written” and said it was the perfect tribute to remember the rock icon.
Lord, whose amplified Hammond organ sound helped define the band, passed away in 2012. Deep Purple took the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall on April 4, 2014, to deliver the performance that was later issued as the live album Celebrating Jon Lord – The Rock Legend. Gillan was joined by guitarist Steve Morse, bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice and keyboardist Don Airey. That lineup is what made the performance possible, as the band’s founding guitarist and the song’s co-writer, Ritchie Blackmore, disliked the song, which is why it took many years before Gillan and the band made it a setlist staple.
Conductor Paul Mann approached the orchestration with deliberate historical care. His score revived and expanded upon an earlier arrangement that Lord and Morse had explored together on previous tours. Mann said he retained a quotation from classical composer Samuel Barber that Lord had used, while reworking the arrangement to add warmth and build toward a heightened final chorus. Connecting Lord’s orchestral ambitions with Deep Purple’s blues foundations gave this version a tailored musical depth.
The track holds an unusual place in the band’s history. Written by Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice and Blackmore, it was excluded from the original seven-song tracklist of the 1972 album Machine Head. Instead, it was issued as the B-side to the single “Never Before.” From the 1990s onwards, the overlooked ballad grew into an essential live showcase, proving that subtle phrasing could deliver an emotional impact every bit as powerful as the group’s loudest hard rock anthems. You can hear Deep Purple and the orchestra perform “Above And Beyond” at the same tribute concert below.
Staging the tribute at the Royal Albert Hall carried deep historical meaning. Back in September 1969, Lord brought Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to that exact hall for his groundbreaking Concerto for Group and Orchestra. That landmark performance marked the start of his career-long mission to merge classical structure with amplified rock. Returning to the iconic venue decades later honoured the roots of Lord’s vision in the place where his boldest experiments began.
The official concert recording of the tribute has gathered more than 2.2 million views online. Viewers added comments such as “I have cold shivers at how amazing Ian’s vocals still are and how he still has that signature tone to his voice, clean as day. A true legendary vocalist” and “Much respect Gillan! You could see that he was singing with his soul, the man is on his ’70s and still can touch your heart with those powerful notes. One of the most beautiful songs ever made.”