Joe Lynn Turner

Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple.

Turner was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on August 2, 1951, and became interested in music in the 1960s.

Growing up in an Italian-American home, he was influenced by singers such as Frank Sinatra and Enrico Caruso.

In high school, he formed the band Ezra, performing original material and cover songs.

He played the accordion as a child and learned the guitar in his early teens.

He was once influenced primarily by such artists as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Free.

During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop rock band Fandango in the late 1970s; and in the early 1980s, he became a member of Rainbow, fronting the band and writing songs with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and bassist Roger Glover.

In 1977, Turner joined the rock band Fandango, who signed with RCA Records.

Turner sang and played guitar on the band's four albums.

Fandango toured with numerous artists including The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel.

After Fandango split, he received a phone call from British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

This resulted in an audition and Turner was immediately enlisted in Rainbow.

The band, while popular in Europe and Japan, had not reached the same level of success in the US.

Turner contributed a pop influence to the band, and Rainbow became successful in the US.

Several tracks from albums with Turner reached the Top 20 on rock radio charts in the early to mid-1980s.

"Stone Cold" became Rainbow's first Top 40 hit and the band's videos were played on heavy rotation on MTV.

After Rainbow had disbanded in March 1984, he pursued a solo career, released one album, Rescue You, and sang backing vocals for Billy Joel, Cher, and Michael Bolton along with radio and television jingles.

He also collaborated with songwriters Desmond Child and Jack Ponti.

Turner had a short-lived association with neoclassical metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and then Deep Purple.

Turner recorded three studio albums with Rainbow: Difficult to Cure, Straight Between the Eyes, and Bent Out of Shape, which featured the singles, "Street of Dreams and "Can't Let You Go". Rainbow disbanded in 1984.

In 1985, after the break-up of Rainbow, Turner released a solo album, Rescue You, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, known for his work with Queen and The Cars.

He co-wrote most of the songs with keyboardist Al Greenwood (Foreigner).

The first single, "Endlessly," received extensive airplay on radio and MTV.

Tours with Night Ranger and Pat Benatar and an acting role in the TV movie Blue Deville followed.

It was during that time, Turner released an additional nine studio albums and two live albums, to go along with his 1985 offering, Rescue You.

In 1987, Turner also supplied backing vocals to the Michael Bolton album, The Hunger.

He appeared on the tracks, "Hot Love" and "Gina".

That same year (1987), he joined Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force and recorded the album Odyssey.

The brief tour that followed the release of the album included a concert in Leningrad, which was recorded and then released as Trial by Fire (1989).

Later that year he left the band.

Turner was asked to join both Bad Company and Foreigner, but opted to join Deep Purple.

From the mid-1990s, he resumed his solo career, releasing an additional nine studio and two live recordings.

He continued to perform session work, and collaborated with the groups Mother's Army and Hughes Turner Project and Sunstorm, the latter of which released five albums with Turner.

Turner recorded one album, Slaves and Masters (1990).

The album peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Charts, which was below expectations for a Deep Purple Album.

After his stints with Rising Force and Deep Purple, Turner spent the mid-1990s through 2008, working on his solo career.

A relatively successful tour followed in 1991, especially in Europe, with Turner willing to sing Songs from the Coverdale-Era of the band, something Ian Gillan had refused.

Turner was let go of the band in late 1992 in the middle of sessions for a follow-up album (which eventually became The Battle Rages On) to make way for a returning Gillan in time for the 25th anniversary of the band.

He has also put out three albums for the progressive rock band Mother's Army, featuring Jeff Watson, Bob Daisley, and Carmine Appice.

In 2016, Turner released The Sessions via Cleopatra Records.