In a new interview with Pavel Bazdyrev of the podcast Musical Craft, former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was asked what it feels like to be in Russia these days. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I’ve been here … back [when I played] with Yngwie [Malmsteen], if you remember, when we did the record ‘[Trial By Fire:] Live In Leningrad’; [present-day Saint Petersburg] was still called Leningrad back then. That was quite a while ago. And that was my first introduction to Russia in a cold February [of 1989]. And we did 11 shows in Moscow and 11 shows in Leningrad, in the big halls. I forget the name, but it’s very famous. And we had over 20,000 people per night for 11 nights each. Everyone came — babushkas, everybody came out because it was very new. And I had quite an experience that I think in many ways changed my life, because of the situation that existed here and situations that we were sort of involved in. KGB was everywhere, military style, the whole thing — in the hotels, papers, you name it. So it was a very different Russia than as I’ve seen it progress over the years. So I’m very glad that I got that observation back then to compare it to today because it is different — very different. But it brought a sense, to me, of the world — more knowledge of what was really happening here in this country, the depth of the people, the depth of the culture, what they’ve gone through. And for example, most Americans have never understood that at all because they’ve never had a war in their country. I mean, the Civil War was not even remembered; it wasn’t really a world war or anything. But here you people have a — what’s the word I’m looking for? There’s a special word. Again, depth is one thing… Of sacrifice and of feeling and of camaraderie, and it sets the mind of the people here in a different position than a lot of the western world. Yeah, it really does. And I’m glad that I had that experience. We call it the 30,000 view — like you’re above everything. You’re looking down on it and you start to see in comparisons. So, yeah, from back then to now, the progress here has been amazing. And I played just about all over Russia … and it came a long way till now.”
After Bazdyrev said that it is “an honor” for him and his countrymen that Turner picked a region like Russia and Belarus to be in, Joe said: “Well, thank you. A friend of mine is a prominent podcaster, and he was here for a while and he went back. Now he’s coming back for citizenship. And the reason why is because of exactly what I’m saying, is that the mentality and the depth of character, et cetera, the culture is much more feeling as opposed to the craziness and the materialism that exists. I’m not saying people don’t like materialism everywhere, but there’s a depth here.”
Asked if he still feels like a foreigner or he feels “at home” in Russia, Turner said: “I feel very at home. I wish I can speak more Russian… I can actually understand more than I can speak, but I find the grammar’s very hard. And as a singer, I’m very good with linguistics. Spanish… Whenever I go to a country, I try to pick up a little bit of the language, whether it’s Japan, Germany… out of respect… But I find a lot of people now, I think in the schools, it’s a second language — English is a demand of a second language. So now the younger kids, shall we say, high school, teenage, they know that they’ve gotta learn the business language, which is basically English, to go anywhere… So I don’t feel that foreign. You know why? Because I think it’s the heart of the people. It’s feeling more than it is differences, whether it’s food and things like that. There are some people that can’t fall into this category, I think. I, however, welcome it and embrace it, the differences — the differences and the similarities. So I feel very comfortable, really.”
The former RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE frontman, who has performed in Russia a number of times in the last couple of years, broke with most international artists who canceled their live appearances in the country in response to the global condemnation against the Kremlin and its president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine. In addition, major record labels suspended their operations in Russia, while streaming services like Spotify pulled out of the market.
Back in 2022, Turner apparently threw his support behind Roger Waters over comments the PINK FLOYD co-founder made about Russia. Waters blasted then-U.S. president Joe Biden for “fueling the fire in the Ukraine” amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country, and asked in an interview with CNN‘s Michael Smerconish, “Why won’t the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelensky, [Ukraine’s] president, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?” After Smerconish responded that Waters got it “reversed” and was “blaming the party that got invaded,” Waters fired back, saying it was about the “action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border.”
A short time later, Turner took to his official Facebook page to share a video of Smerconish‘s interview with Waters, and he included the following message: “Roger Waters speaks TRUTH to power! Thank you Roger. Someone has to say it…”
This was not the first time Joe had publicly taken a political stance. Back in 2015, the singer made headlines when it was revealed that he joined a list of Western celebrities who publicly expressed support for and defended Vladimir Putin, whose image had suffered greatly because of Moscow’s aggressive foreign policy.
Two years later, Turner said that his opinion of the Russian president had remained unchanged. “He still is [telling the truth],” the singer told Kraig Casebier‘s “American Barber In Prague” in a 2017 interview. “Honest to God, I got a lot of crap for [saying] that [before]. But it’s true, and he still is, whether you like him or not. He may be a gangster, but he’s a good gangster. And I say there are good gangsters.
“There were gangsters in my family, in the Mafia, and they were good people,” he explained. “They were the safest neighborhoods, and they protected everyone on the block, and they took care of a lot of people. And they actually donated their time, money to good causes. If somebody didn’t have enough bread or food, they’d buy it for ’em. I mean, it depends on what kind of gangster you are. The politicans are bad gangsters; they can’t even cover up their crimes.”
Joe went on to lament the state of American politics and denounced the culture of extreme political correctness, which he believed had gone too far.
“I think America’s lost its way,” he said. “We’ve lost God, we’ve lost a lot of things that made that country great. And I’m sorry to say, being an American — Italian-American, and holding an American passport… I have had uncles… and my father did military service for twelve overseas stripes — the whole thing. And I went to Iraq for the troops, so anybody that wants to challenge that, c’mon, bring it on, because I think I know a few more things than you. But I think that we’ve lost a lot in our values of America. We can’t even speak freely anymore. There’s more freedom in Russia; I can tell you that. I’ve done a lot of time there and still will. People don’t understand what Russia is [in America].”
According to Turner, his country’s demonization of Russia is rooted in the fact that “America always needs a big, bad wolf. We need to hate somebody, because of the military industrial complex,” he said. “So we need to hate somebody all the time [and] create a war. There’s no need for it, really. If we can just straighten out the economy and get the Fed out of there, I think the people would have a chance. But right now, I pray for them — I really do. Because I just think they’ve got it all wrong.”
As if sensing the criticism that would likely follow his comments, Turner preemptively defended himself by saying: “I said Putin was telling the truth, ’cause he is telling the truth. I got subpoenaed by my own government, okay? So all these naysayers and these haters who are gonna see this about me and stuff, you guys have no clue. 30 percent of the American people have passports, so 70 percent of you are isolated and know dick about it — you have been nowhere and done nothing. Excuse me, but that’s what you should have been told a long time ago.”
The now-73-year-old singer went on to explain that he was “subpoenaed” by the U.S. government after he played “three charity shows” in Russian-annexed Crimea, which he called a “wartorn country.” “The people had a great time [and] we had sellout houses,” he said.
Joe was the singer of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album “Difficult To Cure”, which featured the band’s most successful U.K. single, “I Surrender”.
During Turner‘s time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.
1990 saw Turner reunited with RAINBOW leader Ritchie Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the “Slaves And Masters” album.
Photo credit: Agata Nigrovskaya (courtesy of Mascot Label Group)