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Founding member of Deep Purple, Jon Lord, has died aged 71. He suffered a pulmonary embolism at the London Clinic, after months battling pancreatic cancer. The keyboard player formed Deep Purple in 1968 and went on to co-write some of the band’s most important recordings, including the classic “Smoke on the Water.”

Lord was born in Leicester on June 9, 1941 and took up classical piano at an early age before being turned on to rock ‘n’ roll and jazz by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Smith. Lord worked with several bands before founding Deep Purple, including the Bill Ashton Combo, Redd Bludd’s Bluesicians, the Art Wood Combo (later known as the Artwoods), Santa Barbara Machine Head (which also featured Ronnie Wood), and the Flower Pot Men (where he met future Deep Purple bassist Nick Simper). He was also a session musician at this time, playing on such classics as the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”.

In 1968, Lord formed the band Roundabout with himself on Hammond organ, Rod Evans on vocals, Richie Blackmore on guitar, Ian Paice on drums and Nick Simper on bass. They were soon renamed Deep Purple.

In the early stages, Lord was Deep Purple’s unofficial group leader, greatly influencing the musical direction of the band. One of his most impressive musical achievements was the Orchestral work “Concerto for Group & Orchestra” which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969 by Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The piece was performed again at the same venue in 1999, with Deep Purple that time joined by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Huge success followed as the band became one of the biggest hard rock bands in the world in the early 1970s, with albums such as “Deep Purple in Rock,” “Fireball,” “Machine Head,” “Who Do We Think We Are” and “Burn.”

Deep Purple split in 1976 (reforming in 1984), but Lord remained a busy composer and performer, releasing music with Whitesnake; Paice, Ashton and Lord; and Olympic Rock & Blues Circus. Deep Purple reformed in 1984 with their so-called Mark II line-up (Ian Gillan on vocals) and embarded on a highly successful tour in support of their new hit album “Perfect Strangers.” Five further studio albums and several live albums followed before Lord retired from Deep Purple in 2002.

After leaving the band, Lord’s focus was on classical works, with several albums released between 2004 and 2010, namely “Beyond The Notes,” “Boom of the Tingling Strings,” “Durham Concerto” and “To Notice Such Things.”

Here’s a great example of why Lord is so revered as an innovative and gifted keyboard player.

“Child in Time” (live) – Deep Purple