





Throughout his tenure with Deep Purple, Paice indulged steadily in session work, playing on albums by such artists as the Velvet Underground, Eddie Hardin, Pete York, Elf, and Bobby Harrison, among others. With Purple now dormant, Paice was allowed to play on even more artists' recordings during the late '70s and early '80s, including releases by Maggie Bell, Kirby, Bernie Marsden, and Ken Hensley. Paice also accepted several invitations to join bands full-time, as evidenced by brief stints in the trio Paice, Ashton & Lord (1977's Malice in Wonderland), Whitesnake (1980's Ready an' Willing, 1981's Come an' Get It, and 1982's Saints and Sinners), and Gary Moore's band (1982's Corridors of Power, 1983's Victims of the Future, 1983's Rockin' Every Night, and 1984's We Want Moore!). Rumors of an impending re-formation of the classic Gillan/Glover Deep Purple lineup had been surfacing for several years by this point, and in 1984, the reunion was finally confirmed. The same year saw a new album by the quintet, the surprisingly strong Perfect Strangers, as well as a sold-out supporting tour. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before the same old problems that broke up the band initially appeared once more, as the lineup only managed one more release, the lackluster House of Blue Light, in 1987.
1989 saw Paice drum on several songs recorded by ex-Beatle George Harrison for the soundtrack to the movie Lethal Weapon II, before returning back to Deep Purple. Purple continued on throughout the '90s, with such further releases as 1990's Slaves and Masters, 1993's The Battle Rages On, 1996's Purpendicular, and 1998's Abandon, despite continued lineup juggling. In 1999, Paice had the opportunity to play alongside another ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney, on the mostly covers outing, Run Devil Run, as well as the live home video/DVD, Live at the Cavern Club. Paice has also recorded a few instructional videos for fellow drummers over the years, including an episode of the '80s TV program Rock School, and in 2002, the DVD Not for the Pros.
Pat Torpey is well known as the drummer of the hard rock band Mr. Big. Torpey has conducted numerous clinics all over the world for Tama Drums. As a versatile and creative musician, he has also played for The Knack, David Lee Roth Band and the Exile Social Club. He is well-noted[by whom?] for composing unique rhythms such as that of "Take Cover", a rock song from Mr. Big.
Mike Portnoy is considered one of the finest prog-rock drummers in the history of the genre, much of it due to his ground-breaking work in Dream Theater. “I couldn’t have dreamt of a better scenario for the path that we traveled,” said Portnoy in a 2002 Modern Drummer magazine interview. “When we first got together at Berklee, we just wanted to make music for the fun of it. We weren’t thinking about record contracts, tours, videos, marketing, or radio air-play. We were just college kids who were into Iron Maiden and Rush and who wanted to make some cool, heavy progressive music. We became so immersed in the music that it became our lifeblood, and we decided to pursue it as a career. Between then and now it’s been a dream come true. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Hours after performing for thousands of South Carolina college students, former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM were critically injured in a fiery Learjet crash that killed four people, US authorities said. Officials said the plane carrying six people was departing shortly before midnight yesterday when air-traffic controllers reporting seeing sparks.
The plane hurtled off the end of a runway and crashed through antennas and a fence.
It came to rest 400 metres away on an embankment across a five-lane highway and was engulfed in flames, said Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Hospital spokeswoman Beth Frits said Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, were critical but stable at a burns centre in Augusta, Georgia.
Two other passengers - Chris Baker, 29, and Charles Still, 25 - died, as did pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, and co-pilot James Bland, 52, according to the county coroner. Baker was an assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician.
The plane was headed for Van Nuys, California.
It is owned by Global Exec Aviation, a California-based charter company, and was certified to operate last year, Hersman said.
The company expressed its condolences in a statement and said it was working with investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
At the crash site today, the air was still heavy with the smell of jet fuel.
A trail of black soot led off a runway. The nose of the aircraft was gone and the roof was missing from two-thirds of the charred plane.
Hersman said officials recovered the cockpit voice recorder today but had yet to analyse it or determine whether the recording was in good condition.
She said the weather was clear when the plane took off, but said no factors had been ruled out.
"We're working as fast as we can to document all the evidence," Hersman said.
"We have not yet found anything but we are looking at everything."
Barker and Goldstein had performed together under the name TRVSDJ-AM at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. Event sponsor T-Mobile said their hour-long set ended about 7.15 pm.
The show, which included performances by former Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew 10,000 people into the streets of Five Points, the neighbourhood near the University of South Carolina, Coble said.
Barker, 32, is one of the more colourful members of the punk rock band Blink-182, whose biggest album was the 1999 CD, Enema of the State, which sold more than five million copies in the United States alone.
After Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, Barker went on to form the rock band (+44) - pronounced plus forty-four.
He also starred in the MTV reality series Meet the Barkers with his then-wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler.
The show documented the former couple's lavish wedding and private life. Their later split, reconciliation and subsequent breakup made them tabloid favourites.
Goldstein, 35, is a popular DJ for hire who at one time was engaged to Nicole Richie.
He has spun a mix of hip-hop and dance beats for the hottest nightclubs and had a string of dates set up for the next few weeks. He reached the peak of his celebrity perhaps during his highly publicised romance with Richie a few years ago.
DJ AM also dated singer/actress Mandy Moore, and while he became a gossip favourite for his romances, he drew respect from music aficionados for his DJ skills.
Barker and Goldstein performed as part of the house band at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month.