Biography
A veteran American rock singer whose professional journey has now stretched across half a century, Joe Lynn Turner earned lasting recognition through his tenures with Fandango, Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Deep Purple. Launching an independent path in 1985 via the album Rescue You, he has since delivered numerous stylistically diverse solo projects such as Holy Man (2000), Second Hand Life (2007), and Belly of the Beast (2022). Beyond his own releases, he has contributed songwriting and vocal performances to records by Mick Jones, Riot, and Lita Ford while supplying backing vocals on platinum-certified albums by Cher, Michael Bolton, and Billy Joel.
Born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, Turner first gained notice as the lead singer of the southern-rock quartet Fandango during the late 1970s. He handled both vocals and guitar across the group’s four LPs, beginning with their self-titled 1977 debut and concluding with 1980’s Cadillac; that body of work caught the ear of Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who recruited Turner to succeed Graham Bonnet. Turner’s Rainbow period ran from his 1981 appearance on Difficult to Cure through the band’s 1984 dissolution, a stretch that produced five albums and signature singles including “Stone Cold” and “I Surrender.”
Stepping out alone in 1985, Turner issued his debut solo album Rescue You, which yielded the single “Endlessly” yet attracted scant critical notice. He next joined Yngwie Malmsteen’s band for the 1988 album Odyssey and its 1989 live follow-up Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire, while also writing and recording background vocals for Bonnie Tyler, Billy Joel, Cher, and Michael Bolton. The year 1990 brought a reunion with Blackmore when Turner entered a reconstituted Deep Purple to record Slaves and Masters, only to be replaced by original vocalist Ian Gillan amid mounting internal friction. Subsequent session work included backing vocals for Bolton and Taylor Dayne, and Turner returned to his solo catalog with 1995’s Nothing Changed. He also contributed to tribute albums honoring Deep Purple and AC/DC before closing the decade with the cover collections Under Cover (1997) and Under Cover 2 (1999).
Thereafter he continued issuing both original and interpretive material, among them Holy Man (2000), Slam (2001), JLT (2003), and The Usual Suspects (2005). During the 2000s he formed the Hughes-Turner Project with Glenn Hughes and joined Dennis Ward, Uwe Reitenauer, and Chris Schmidt of Pink Cream 69 in the melodic AOR outfit Sunstorm. In 2014 Turner assembled the Frontiers Records supergroup Rated X alongside guitarist Karl Cochran (Ace Frehley), bassist Tony Franklin (the Firm, Whitesnake), and drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy Osbourne). He performed two tracks on Michael Schenker Group’s 2021 album Immortal and, the following year, released his eleventh solo effort, Belly of the Beast.
Born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, Turner first gained notice as the lead singer of the southern-rock quartet Fandango during the late 1970s. He handled both vocals and guitar across the group’s four LPs, beginning with their self-titled 1977 debut and concluding with 1980’s Cadillac; that body of work caught the ear of Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who recruited Turner to succeed Graham Bonnet. Turner’s Rainbow period ran from his 1981 appearance on Difficult to Cure through the band’s 1984 dissolution, a stretch that produced five albums and signature singles including “Stone Cold” and “I Surrender.”
Stepping out alone in 1985, Turner issued his debut solo album Rescue You, which yielded the single “Endlessly” yet attracted scant critical notice. He next joined Yngwie Malmsteen’s band for the 1988 album Odyssey and its 1989 live follow-up Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire, while also writing and recording background vocals for Bonnie Tyler, Billy Joel, Cher, and Michael Bolton. The year 1990 brought a reunion with Blackmore when Turner entered a reconstituted Deep Purple to record Slaves and Masters, only to be replaced by original vocalist Ian Gillan amid mounting internal friction. Subsequent session work included backing vocals for Bolton and Taylor Dayne, and Turner returned to his solo catalog with 1995’s Nothing Changed. He also contributed to tribute albums honoring Deep Purple and AC/DC before closing the decade with the cover collections Under Cover (1997) and Under Cover 2 (1999).
Thereafter he continued issuing both original and interpretive material, among them Holy Man (2000), Slam (2001), JLT (2003), and The Usual Suspects (2005). During the 2000s he formed the Hughes-Turner Project with Glenn Hughes and joined Dennis Ward, Uwe Reitenauer, and Chris Schmidt of Pink Cream 69 in the melodic AOR outfit Sunstorm. In 2014 Turner assembled the Frontiers Records supergroup Rated X alongside guitarist Karl Cochran (Ace Frehley), bassist Tony Franklin (the Firm, Whitesnake), and drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy Osbourne). He performed two tracks on Michael Schenker Group’s 2021 album Immortal and, the following year, released his eleventh solo effort, Belly of the Beast.
Albums
Belly Of The Beast
2022
The Sessions
2016
Second Hand Life
2007
Sunstorm
2006
The Devil's Door
2005
Holy Man
2002
Nothing's Changed
1995
Odyssey
1988
Rescue You
1985
Singles
Live
