Ritchie Blackmore’s wife and bandmate, Candice Night, breaks the silence with a somber statement confirming that the entire Blackmore’s Night tour has been abruptly postponed for “medical reasons,” a revelation that sends a ripple of fear through longtime fans as questions about the legendary guitarist’s health intensify, turning what should have been a celebratory tour into a moment of anxious waiting, quiet speculation, and a growing sense that something far more serious may be unfolding behind closed doors.

Candice Night has confirmed

Ritchie Blackmore’s neo-medieval folk rock band Blackmore’s Night have postponed all their upcoming concerts due to unspecified “medical reasons”.

Hours before Blackmore’s Night were due to perform at Newton Theater in New Jersey on Saturday (15th November), Ritchie Blackmore’s wife and band mate Candice Night confirmed the show was postponed because of “medical reasons”.

On Monday, Night issued a similar statement on Instagram announcing that Blackmore’s Night’s show at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday 20th November also won’t be going ahead.

In a third update on Tuesday, Night told fans the entire North American tour has now been postponed.

“All Blackmore’s Night shows postponed at this point due to medical reasons,” Night wrote. “We are sorry for any inconvenience.”

No further details have been revealed, and it’s unclear whether the person with medical issues is Deep Purple and Rainbow legend Ritchie Blackmore.

Back in April, Candice confirmed that 80-year-old Blackmore suffered a heart attack in 2023 and underwent an operation to have six stents fitted.

Ruling out the possibly on performing international shows, Night told Total Rock: “As far as flying anywhere right now, Ritchie has actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane. He had a heart attack about a year-and-a half ago. He’s got six stents.

“I can’t believe he’s going to be 80 on April 14th, which is crazy, but he doesn’t look it, still doesn’t act it, but eventually medical things wind up catching up with you so we’ve gotta make sure we keep him happy and healthy.”

Detailing his other health issues, Night continued: “He’s dealing with gout and some arthritic things and, of course, his back has always been an issue for years. So it’s getting harder for him, it’s tricky, but, hey, I’ve seen people younger than him in wheelchairs on stage doing what they do. So I think he probably doesn’t want people to see him that way.

“I see the other perspective. From a fan’s perspective, I would think people would just be happy to be under the same roof with him and listen to him play whatever he comes up with.

“So, we kind of have this discussion, or argument… I’ll say discussion, all the time. But he was just recently at his cardiologist, and they said, ‘Let’s put traveling by plane on hold.’ So, hopefully we’ll get that all straightened out and that’ll change. But I’ll let you guys know if it does.”

Ritchie Blackmore revived Rainbow with a new line-up in late 2015, and the band kicked off with two shows in Germany and a sold-out concert at Birmingham Genting Arena in the summer of 2016.

With Ronnie Romero on lead vocals, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow went on to play further UK shows in London, Birmingham and Glasgow in 2017, before calling it a day following a clutch of European concerts in June 2019.