Deep Purple Meet Russian President

Legendary rock band Deep Purple took tea with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, March 23 at his residence outside Moscow.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the rock-loving president said he used to play rock music when he was a DJ at school parties. “It was an unusual discotheque because hard rock was the main music there,” he said.

Medvedev said that before spinning rock records at school parties, he had to have his playlist approved by the communist party’s youth organization, Komsomol.

Upon meeting the president, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice presented Medvedev with a set of drum sticks. The Russian politician said that he had been a Deep Purple fan for 33 years: “When I started listening to Deep Purple, of course I could not imagine that I would be sitting with you at this table just like that.”