Don Airey, born on June 21, 1948 in Sunderland, England, is a renowned rock keyboardist. His musical career began with classical piano lessons at the age of seven. He later studied music at the University of Nottingham and the Royal Northern College of Music. In 1971 he moved to London and joined Cozy Powell's band Hammer. In the following years he worked with numerous artists and bands, including Colosseum II, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull and Gary Moore. He has been a permanent member of Deep Purple since 2002 and has recorded several albums with the band, including Bananas (2003), Rapture of the Deep (2005), Now What? (2013), Infinite (2017), Whoosh! (2020) and =1 (2024). As a solo artist, he has released several albums, most recently Pushed To The Edge, which was released on March 28, 2025. In November 2024, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by the University of Sunderland.
