Jon Lord, former bandmember of British hard-rock band Deep Purple and the co-writer of legendary songs like Smoke On The Water, has died. He was 71.
The keyboard player died at the London Clinic on Monday after suffering a fatal pulmonary embolism. The musician was “surrounded by his loving family” at the time of his death, his official website said. He announced last year that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer and would be taking a break from performing “while getting the treatment and cure”.
“I shall of course be continuing to write music — in my world it just has to be part of the therapy — and I fully expect to be back in good shape next year,” he wrote in August 2011. Born in Leicester, England, on June 9, 1941, Lord studied classical piano from a young age. He played in several jazz, blues and pop groups in the ‘60s.
In 1968, Lord founded Deep Purple, where he was virtually the leader of the band until 1970. He and drummer Ian Paice were the only constant band members during its existence from 1968 to 1976 and from when they reformed in 1984. He is best known for his Orchestral work Concerto for Group & Orchestra which was first performed at Royal Albert Hall with Deep Purple.
His solo work was universally acclaimed when he retired from Deep Purple in 2002.
He is survived by wife Vicky and daughters, Amy Cherrington and Sara Lord.
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Bra from 15th century shocks historians
London: Brassiere might not be a modern invention after all, as historians have uncovered from the vault of an Austrian castle a bra dating back to the 15th Century.
While it was known that medieval men wore undergarments, it was thought that women simply wore a chemise. Bras were thou-ght to be a modern invention, appearing around 100 years ago, whereas Knic-kers were believed to have made an appearance only in the late 18th century.
Four bras and two pairs of pants were among almost 3,000 fragments of clothing and other detritus found in Lengberg Castle in East Tyrol during recent renovations, BBC history magazine reported. Two of the bras resemble modern counterparts but the others are described as “shirts with bags”. The knickers are similar to the string bikini briefs in fashion today, while the bra is like that of its modern-day counterparts. — PTI