Joe Lynn Turner

Joe Lynn Turner

Joe Lynn Turner is a US rock vocalist from Hackensack, New Jersey, born in 1951. He is known for hard rock and melodic hard rock work, and for his association with Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force and Deep Purple. He also plays guitar and, as a child, plays accordion.

Early career

Turner grows up with an interest in classic R&B and becomes an accomplished guitarist in his early teens. While in high school he forms Ezra, a band that performs original songs and covers by artists including Jimi Hendrix, Free and Deep Purple.

His first national success comes in 1976 with Fandango, a group whose sound combines R&B, pop, country, jazz and melodic rock. He sings and plays guitar on all four of the band’s albums. Fandango tours with acts including The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel.

Rainbow and commercial breakthrough

After Fandango splits, Ritchie Blackmore contacts Turner and invites him to audition for Rainbow. Blackmore is impressed and brings him into the band. Rainbow already has a following in Europe and Japan, but Turner’s arrival helps expand its success in the United States. The band’s more pop-oriented material with Turner reaches rock radio charts in the early to mid-1980s, and “Stone Cold” becomes Rainbow’s first Top 40 hit. Their videos also receive heavy rotation on MTV.

He records three studio albums with Rainbow: Difficult to Cure, Straight Between the Eyes and Bent Out of Shape. The last of these includes “Street of Dreams.”

Solo work and collaborations

After Rainbow ends in 1984, Turner releases the solo album Rescue You, produced by Roy Thomas Baker. He co-writes most of the songs with Al Greenwood of Foreigner. The first single, “Endlessly,” receives substantial radio and MTV airplay. He then tours with Pat Benatar and appears as an actor in the film Blue Deville.

In 1987 he provides backing vocals on Michael Bolton’s album The Hunger, appearing on “Hot Love” and “Gina.” He also works with Glenn Hughes in the Hughes Turner Project and appears with Bulgarian guitarist Nikolo Kotzev and Brazen Abbot, including Kotzev’s rock opera Nostradamus. He records three albums under the name Mother’s Army.

With Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple

In 1988 Turner joins Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force and records Odyssey. The tour for that album includes a concert in Leningrad, later issued as Trial by Fire. In 1989 he leaves to join Deep Purple, replacing Ian Gillan as the band’s fifth singer. With Deep Purple he records Slaves & Masters, a line-up change that leads to a sound different from the group’s earlier work. After the supporting tour he is dismissed.

Later projects

Turner continues mainly with solo and collaborative work after Deep Purple. He becomes involved in Sunstorm, described as a studio project, and works with Japanese guitarist Akira Kajiyama on Fire Without Flame. He appears as a guest with the Voices Of Classic Rock shows alongside Glenn Hughes.

In 2005 he sings on the bonus track “Street Of Dreams” on Blackmore’s Night’s The Village Lanterne. He also performs in concerts with Graham Bonnet and joins the touring band Big Noize. In 2008 he forms Over The Rainbow with former Rainbow musicians Bobby Rondinelli, Greg Smith and Tony Carey, later replaced on keyboards by Paul Morris, together with Ritchie Blackmore’s son J.R. Blackmore on guitar.

Recognition

Turner is ranked 84th in Hit Parader’s “Heavy Metal’s All-Time 100 Vocalists.”