Deep Purple have postponed the remaining dates of their 2026 European and UK tour following Ian Gillan’s medical emergency in Germany. The 81-year-old singer needed urgent hospital treatment in Leipzig and said continuing the performances would carry very serious health risks. No specific diagnosis has been made public, and the band has not announced a timetable for rescheduling the remaining shows.
Deep Purple have interrupted their European and UK tour because Ian Gillan’s health does not allow him to continue the scheduled performances. In his latest statement, the singer said the decision followed emergency hospital treatment in Germany and advice from his doctors. He had hoped to complete the tour, but the risks involved in returning to the stage were considered too serious to proceed.
The emergency occurred in Leipzig, where the group was due to perform on October 31. Shortly before the concert, the band announced that Gillan had developed an urgent medical problem and had been taken to hospital. That development initially led to the postponement of the Leipzig appearance and the following day’s show, scheduled for November 1 in Hamburg, before the rest of the itinerary was affected.
In its first announcement, the group expressed regret for the disruption to audiences and explained that the situation had arisen unexpectedly. The focus was on the singer. Ticket holders for the two concerts were told that efforts would be made to arrange replacement dates and that their existing tickets would remain valid. The initial update concerned those immediate appearances rather than the full remaining run.
The November 2 statement changed the position for the rest of the tour. Ian Gillan addressed fans personally, thanking them for the messages and support he had received. He explained that the problem in Leipzig required immediate medical attention and that he had been waiting in the hope of returning. That account described his wish to continue, while making clear that medical clearance had not been given.
He had wanted approval to get through the remaining shows, but said that doing so would involve very serious risks. On the advice of his medical team and the band’s management, the decision was made to postpone the rest of the European and UK dates until further notice. The statement conveyed the seriousness of the decision without disclosing a diagnosis or further details of the condition.
Gillan apologised to those who had planned to attend and acknowledged the inconvenience caused by changing the schedule. He described postponement as the best decision for everyone under the circumstances and thanked the audience for its understanding. He did not specify when he might return to the stage. The absence of a timetable leaves replacement performances dependent on further information rather than an assumed recovery date.
Deep Purple had been due to resume in Dortmund on November 3 before visiting Berlin, Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The itinerary then included Amsterdam and French cities including Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon. These were consecutive engagements across a period of less than two weeks. All fall within the remaining European programme covered by the new statement, rather than continuing under the earlier two-show postponement alone.
The final part of the run was scheduled for the UK, with Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester among the stops. London had two announced concerts: November 24 at the Eventim Apollo and November 25 at the Royal Albert Hall. The latter would have completed this leg in a venue with a particular place in the band’s history, but it too is included in the postponement.
Deep Purple presented Jon Lord’s “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969. The planned return therefore carried historical significance as well as its place at the end of the UK itinerary. The tour followed “Splat!”, the group’s 24th studio album, released in July 2026 and recorded with producer Bob Ezrin, which provided the basis for the year’s extensive concert activity.
Ian Gillan has been central to the group’s story since the late 1960s, connecting his voice with songs including “Child in Time”, “Highway Star” and “Smoke on the Water”. Following periods away and lineup changes, he returned permanently in 1992. The current band also features Roger Glover on bass, Ian Paice on drums, Don Airey on keyboards and Simon McBride on guitar.
The musicians have continued recording and touring internationally without announcing a plan for permanent retirement from live performance. Glover previously explained that Deep Purple did not want to organise a farewell tour with a predetermined final date, preferring to keep playing while they could. That earlier comment described the group’s general outlook and should not be read as a response to Gillan’s recent medical emergency.
For now, neither a specific diagnosis nor a rescheduling timetable has been announced. The decision concerns postponing the remaining 2026 European and UK appearances, rather than declaring a permanent end to the band’s touring activity. Gillan has made clear that he wanted to complete the dates, but medical advice prevents him from taking the risks that a return to the stage at this point would involve.
