Blackmore Tried To Ban His Son From Using His Name

Reclusive former RAINBOW rocker RITCHIE BLACKMORE was so incensed to hear his German lovechild had taken his place in spin-off OVER THE RAINBOW, he insisted the guitarist change his name.

Singer Joe Lynn Turner reveals his former bandmate wanted nothing to do with the revamped band and seemed fine when his son Jurgen agreed to join up for a tour of Europe.

But then things turned sour.

The singer tells Britain's Classic Rock magazine, "Certain people... who are very close to him (Ritchie Blackmore) started to put ideas into his head. Then Ritchie suddenly became very antagonistic.

"Things got so bad that he insisted Jurgen, his own son, couldn't use the name Blackmore. Jurgen's full name is Jurgen Richard Blackmore - it says so on his birth certificate.

"He ended up sending a copy of that to Ritchie, to prove he had every right to the name. Thankfully, that's all behind us now, and everything's back on an even keel."