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AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Glenn Hughes, Deep Purple legend, retires from touring ahead of open-heart surgery Thu Aug 6 17:40:21 2026

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Glenn Hughes, 74, announced Tuesday that he is stepping away from live performance for good as he prepares for another open-heart surgery, closing out a career that spanned more than five decades. Hughes broke the news on his Facebook page, telling fans that a battery of medical tests left […] The post Glenn Hughes, Deep Purple legend, retires from touring ahead of open-heart surgery appeared first on American Almanac .

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Glenn Hughes, 74, announced Tuesday that he is stepping away from live performance for good as he prepares for another open-heart surgery, closing out a career that spanned more than five decades. Hughes broke the news on his Facebook page , telling fans that a battery of medical tests left him no room to keep going. MRIs, CT scans, and an echocardiogram all pointed the same direction, and his medical team told him surgery was necessary. Hughes, a singer, bassist, and songwriter born in Cannock, England, put it plainly in his statement: "The results from numerous MRIs, CT scans, and an echocardiogram have alerted my medical team, that I need another open-heart surgery. I really have no option and no choice as health is my number one priority." The word "another" carries weight. It means Hughes has been through open-heart surgery before, though he did not say when or for what condition. His medical team has not commented publicly, and the Daily Mail reported that it reached out to Hughes' representatives without receiving a response. Health troubles had already grounded a U.S. tour Tuesday's announcement did not come out of nowhere. Hughes had cited health issues earlier this year when he canceled a spring U.S. tour called "The Chosen Years" in January 2026. That tour would have featured guitarist Søren Andersen and drummer Ash Sheehan, with a setlist drawing from Hughes' solo catalog and his work with Deep Purple and Black Country Communion. Hughes kept performing into the spring. His most recent show came on May 30 at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois, where he appeared with The Dead Daises under the name The Purple Daises. But the Facebook post made clear that the stage chapter is now closed. His statement carried a tone of gratitude, not bitterness: "I am grateful to have been chosen with a life full with the gift of music. Thank you for walking beside me." Five decades from Trapeze to the Hall of Fame Hughes first gained notice in the 1970s with the group Trapeze. In 1973, he joined Deep Purple alongside David Coverdale, stepping into one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. The lineup recorded three studio albums, Burn and Stormbringer in 1974, and Come Taste the Band in 1975, before that incarnation of the band split in 1976. He wasted little time going solo. His first album, Play Me Out, arrived in 1977. Over the decades he released a dozen solo studio records, the most recent being Chosen in September 2025. He also formed the band Hughes/Thrall with guitarist Pat Thrall, releasing a self-titled album in 1982. The list of musicians who collaborated with Hughes reads like a wing of the rock hall itself: Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Gary Moore, John Norum, famed guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and Red Hot Chili Peppers members Dave Navarro, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante. As recently as 2025, Hughes and Iommi worked together on a single called "Rocket" from Robbie Williams. In 2016, Hughes and his Deep Purple colleagues were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, formal recognition of a band whose influence on hard rock and heavy metal is difficult to overstate. A fall tour wrapped just months before the diagnosis Hughes had been active well into the fall of 2025. He launched a European and South American tour on September 2 in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, and wrapped it on November 29 in Bogota, Colombia. He was still promoting Chosen and its accompanying videos for tracks "Chosen," "Voice In My Head," and "Into The Fade." Within weeks of finishing that run, he canceled the U.S. dates. Now the retirement is official. Several questions remain unanswered. Hughes did not disclose the specific heart condition behind the surgery recommendation, nor did he say when the procedure is scheduled. The timing and outcome of his previous open-heart surgery are also unknown. His representatives have not offered further detail. What is clear is that a 74-year-old man who spent half a century on stages around the world chose to walk away on his own terms, health first, music second. In a business that has claimed too many performers who refused to stop, that counts for something. The post Glenn Hughes, Deep Purple legend, retires from touring ahead of open-heart surgery appeared first on American Almanac .