Holy Communion

‘The Voice Of Rock’ and one of its true survivors, GLENN HUGHES is at the peak of his powers, fronting Black Country Communion and celebrating the conquest of past demons through a deeply personal autobiography, as he tells Tim Jones

Once dubbed “my favourite white singer” by Stevie Wonder, Glenn Hughes, the boy from the Black Country is reinvigorated by faith after decades spent in a personal wilderness. During that time, it seemed odds on that his name would join that of his Deep Purple colleague, Tommy Bolin, as just another on the growing list of wasted talent drowned by rock excess. By the late 80s, Glenn appeared to be a bloated, Kurtz-like figure on a seemingly inevitable downward spiral into oblivion.

That’s not to say that the singer-bassist ever lost his God-given talents to write and perform. But it did see him stumble through umpteen studio sessions, which, as he now readily admits, hold few fond memories – if any at all – when he was simply playing to pay for the next hit... and that’s not a chart reference. Through much of the 70s and 80s, he tripped from the heady early days of Trapeze and Deep Purple – rocking 350,000 people at the California Jam, cutting the classic Burn, Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band – to a point where he gained infamy, as his friend and housemate Gary Moore noted, for being “constantly out to lunch”.

Fortunately, through strength of will and a spiritual reawakening, Glenn ditched the drink and million-dollar substance habit, and forged a reinvigorated solo path that saw him reach the …

by Tim Jones
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