Joe Lynn Turner, is an American singer, known for his works with hard rock band
Rainbow. During his career, Turner fronted jazz rock/pop rock band
Fandango, had the short-lived collaboration for neoclassical metal
guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple. From the mid 1990s, he worked
with various musical groups, while pursuing a solo career. He is currently
the vocalist for Rated X, based on Mother's Army. Their album was released
in 2014. Career
Born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito to an Italian family, in high school, Turner
formed the band Ezra, performing original material and cover songs. He
played the accordion as a child, grew up with an appreciation for classic R&B and
became an accomplished guitarist in his early teens. He was once influenced
primarily by such artists as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Free. In 1976,
Turner enjoyed his first taste of national success with Fandango, a band
described as an eclectic mix of R&B, pop, country, jazz and melodic rock. He
sang and played guitar on all of the band's four albums. Fandango toured with
numerous artists including The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, The
Beach Boys and Billy Joel. After Fandango split, He received a
phone call from British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. This resulted in an
audition and Turner was immediately enlisted in Rainbow. The band, while
popular in Europe and Japan, had not reached the same level of success in the
US before Turner joined. With his contributions, the group was catapulted
to a new level of American success. Several tracks from albums with Turner
reached the Top 20 on rock radio charts in the early- to mid-80's. "Stone Cold"
became Rainbow's first Top 40 hit and the band's videos were played on heavy
rotation on MTV. Turner recorded three studio albums with Rainbow: Difficult to
Cure, Straight Between the Eyes, and Bent Out of Shape, which featured the
single "Street of Dreams". Rainbow disbanded in 1984.
In 1985, after the break-up of Rainbow, Turner released a solo album, Rescue
You, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, known for his work with Queen and The Cars. He
co-wrote most of the songs with keyboardist Al Greenwood. The first
single, "Endlessly," received extensive airplay on radio and MTV. Tours with
Night Ranger and Pat Benatar and an acting role in the TV movie Blue Deville
followed. In 1987 Turner also supplied backing
vocals to the Michael Bolton album The Hunger. He appeared on the tracks "Hot
Love" and "Gina". In 1988, he joined Yngwie Malmsteen's
Rising Force and recorded the album Odyssey. The brief tour that followed
the release of the album included a concert in Leningrad which was recorded
and then released as Trial by Fire. In 1989 he left the band to join Deep
Purple. Turner recorded just one album, Slaves & Masters. The album peaked at
No. 87 on the Billboard Charts, and a relatively successful tour followed in
1991, but Turner left the band in late 1992. He has also put out three albums
for the progressive rock band Mother's Army, featuring Jeff Watson, Bob Daisley
and Carmine Appice. Turner has been working mainly on his
prolific solo career since mid-1990 and has worked with the Finnish rock band
Brazen Abbot, led by Bulgarian guitarist Nikolo Kotzev, and with Glenn Hughes
under the Hughes Turner Project name. Turner also participated in Nikolo
Kotzev's rock opera Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus. In 2005 Turner has
performed on the Russian studio project Michael Men Project's album Made in
Moscow, along with his colleague Glenn Hughes. In 2006, he took on the very
musically successful studio project Sunstorm, with bassist Dennis Ward of
German rock band Pink Cream 69. Turner was a guest in the Voices of Classic
Rock shows. Turner also appeared as a headliner with AC/DC frontman Brian
Johnson on the Classic Rock Cares charity tour which was organized by
longtime friend Steve Luongo, who was the drummer/producer of The John
Entwistle Band. On the PBS show Between the Lions, he sang the song "Clobbered"
in the episode "Giants and Cubs". On August 4, 2006 Turner gave a special
performance of Rainbow songs with the New Japan Philharmonic at the
Metropolitan Art Space in Tokyo, Japan. In 2008 he has formed Over the Rainbow,
a tribute band composed of former Rainbow musicians, Paul
Morris-Keyboardist/94-97, and Blackmore's son Jürgen on guitar.
He was a member of the touring band Big Noize, featuring alongside guitarist
Carlos Cavazo, bassist Phil Soussan, and drummer Vinny Appice. Turner recently
joined Norwegian group The Jan Holberg Project, which released their studio
album Sense of Time in 2011. In the summer 2012, he and the Legends
Voice of Rock did a gig at the Golden Times Festival in Degerfors, Sweden.
In 2013 he sang a few songs as guest role on the Avantasia-album The Mystery
of Time, released in March. March and April 2013 saw Turner Perform
as a Special Guest Artist for the Las Vegas show "Raiding the Rock Vault" at
the LVH Hotel and Casino. On February 9, 2015 Turner was a guest
singer, alongside with the winner Slavin Slavchev, in the final of the third
season of X Factor Bulgaria. They sang together Street of Dreams.
Personal life In August 2015, Turner entered Crimea
and expressed his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Discography References
External links Official Joe Lynn Turner website