Deep Purple Shoots For New World Record

Deep Purple's Ian Gillan and thousands of his closest friends are trying to set a new record for the world's biggest jam session.  Back in 2009, 6,546 guitarists in England set the mark when they played a Jimi Hendrix song simultaneously.

Gillian will take part in the annual Guitars on the Beach event in Lyme Regis, England, September 6th.  When he heard that the organizers were planning to play Deep Purple's iconic "Smoke on the Water" this year, Gillian contacted them and offered to sing along.

According to Guitars on the Beach spokesman Geoff Baker, "Massed guitar bands in America, Germany, Canada and Poland have all had a crack at the world record playing Smoke – but none of them has ever been led by Ian Gillan before. This is going to be amazing, and many more people will now want to take part. It’s quite something to write home about, that you once played with Ian Gillan in a band with thousands of guitarists."

Check out the Guitars on the Beach website here.