Creativity Quote by Ritchie Blackmore

There’s a sneer hiding in the compliment, and it’s delivered with the offhand precision of a guitarist who’s spent years watching the machinery of fame grind up everyone differently. When Ritchie Blackmore says he can “imagine” Rod Stewart likes giving autographs because he’s “pure showbusiness,” he’s not really describing Stewart. He’s drawing a border between two species of rock star: the entertainer who feeds on audience contact, and the musician who treats that contact as a tax.

“Pure showbusiness” is doing double duty. On one level, it’s admiration for Stewart’s natural extroversion: a performer whose job isn’t just to sing, but to circulate charisma, to make every encounter feel like part of the act. On another level, it’s Blackmore’s coded critique of careerist gloss - the sense that Stewart belongs to the lineage of vaudeville polish and celebrity maintenance, not the pricklier, craft-first mythology rock likes to tell about itself.

The context matters because Blackmore’s public persona has long been defined by friction: with bandmates, with managers, with the expectation that musicians must also be accessible brands. In that light, the autograph becomes a symbol. For Stewart, it’s an extension of performance, a small stage with a Sharpie. For Blackmore, it’s implied to be something else entirely: an obligation that can cheapen the work by turning artistry into customer service.

The line lands because it’s casual and loaded at once - a one-sentence sociology of rock fame, delivered as if it were just a passing thought.