Gillan was fired

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Gillan was fired in 1989; his relations with Blackmore had again soured, and their musical differences had diverged too far. Originally, the band intended to recruit Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison as Gillan’s replacement. After two weeks of sessions with the band, however, Jamison announced he could not join Deep Purple owing to complications with Scotti Brothers Records , his record label. Eventually, after auditioning several high-profile candidates, including Brian Howe ( White Spirit , Ted Nugent , Bad Company ), Doug Pinnick ( King’s X ), Australians Jimmy Barnes ( Cold Chisel ) and John Farnham ( Little River Band ), Terry Brock (Strangeways, Giant ) and Norman “Kal” Swan ( Tytan , Lion , Bad Moon Rising ), the band agreed on Joe Lynn Turner , who had previously been a member of Rainbow with Blackmore and Glover.