When Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Iron Maiden joined forces for one mighty session, the results were absolutely thunderous! The rock legends, and many others, teamed up for the Rock Aid Armenia charity in ‘89 to re-record the Deep Purple staple “Smoke on the Water.” The recording features fiery verses from Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan, Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, and Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers, with Bryan Adams providing backing vocals.
Hearing Mr. Dickinson, AKA the Air Raid Siren, on a Deep Purple song is really something – talk about a distinctive voice! The guitar lineup was just as distinguished, as the track featured Queen’s Brian May, Floyd’s David Gilmour, Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore and Rush’s Alex Lifeson. The bridge at 3:26 features plenty of scorching licks, with May’s solo even blowing Gilmour’s mind, as seen at the four-minute mark. The Music Man has to say this collab def goes down in rock ‘n’ roll history!
Rock Aid Armenia uploaded the gargantuan collab to YouTube, where it drew 22 million views. Fans were really bowled over by the massive lineup and added comments such as “Deep Purple, Queen, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd… The gathering of the legends” and “I saw May, Gilmour, Iommi and Blackmore together, now I can rest in peace.”
Rock Aid Armenia was not the first time Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Queen’s Brian May worked together. The pair have collaborated many times over the years, with one of their greatest moments as a guitar duo being their live rendition of the Queen classic “I Want It All.” The ‘92 performance features The Who’s Roger Daltrey on the mic, completing a star-studded lineup that gave an absolute powerhouse performance. The mix of Iommi’s thunderous riffs and May’s electrifying leads certainly makes for a killer combo.
Rock Aid Armenia was organised by charity campaigner Jon Dee in response to the devastating 1988 Armenian earthquake. The project produced several recordings for charity. However, The Music Man readers probably won’t be surprised to hear that the most notable recording from the project remains the “Smoke on the Water” re-recording, thanks to the stellar lineup of rock icons featured. In addition to the big-name guitar and vocal lineup, the full band also featured some notable rockers. Yes’s Chris Squire handled bass guitar duties, while Queen’s Roger Taylor held it down behind the drum kit. The keyboards were provided by Yes’s Geoff Downes and Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.