Drummer Ian Paice Speaks on Possibility of Deep Purple’s Retirement: ‘We Are Realists’

“We Are Realists,” says drummer Ian Paice on the possibility of Deep Purple retiring. “The guys are getting older, and there’s gonna come a point where maybe one or two of us don’t want to do it anymore.”
Ian Paice, the drummer for Deep Purple, expressed his intention to play on as long as feasible, despite the fact that he and the other band members are “realists” when it comes to retiring.

Nothing lasts forever, which is one of life’s basic facts, but the fact that even Metallica has discussed retirement (if only in theory) indicates that the time is drawing closer for the iconic performers from some of the best periods of rock music to stop performing.

And while Deep Purple is still going strong even after 56 years — and was further bolstered by the addition of guitarist Simon McBride last year — the British hard rock legends know they won’t be able to do it forever, Ian Paice tells Zoom in a recent interview (via Rock Celebrities):

“We have never planned a date to stop working. We are realists. The guys are getting older, and there’s gonna come a point where maybe one or two of us don’t want to do it anymore, or [it’s] not physically possible for them to do it. But we don’t think about that. We’re still having a great deal of fun. A lot of people still enjoy what we do, and so long as those two things stay in harmony, we’ll continue.”

Many people associate saying goodbye to traveling with a huge farewell show to mark the occasion, but Paice contends that organizing such an event only sets a deadline for something that could have gone on a little bit longer:

“I don’t think we’ll ever find out what the final show or tour was.” It will probably arrive and strike us squarely in the face. We’ll just say, “Sorry, guys,” unless there’s a clear plan—which there isn’t—to do something as a farewell. We’re done now. We are at our limit now. It’s been fantastic.

However, that does not imply that the drummer would give up on recording music with his other musicians. He continued, saying: