October 1, 2009 - 21:24 AMT
Deep Purple vocalist and Black Sabbath guitar player arrived in Yerevan
Deep Purple founder and vocalist Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath guitar player Tony Iommi, Asia rock group's keyboard player Jeff Downs, as well as tennis-player, winner of 1987 Wimbledon male tournament Pat Cash and Rock Aid Armenia project author and Founder and Chairman of the Australian advocacy organization 'Do Something!' Jon Dee arrived in Yerevan on October 1, Thursday.
On October 2, Premier Tigran Sargsyan will bestow presidential honor awards upon Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Jeff Downs and Jon Dee.
Pat Cash will conduct master class for Armenian tennis players.
Rock Aid Armenia project was launched 20 years ago upon the initiative of John Din. In 1989, it visited Spitak and Leninakan (Gyumri) for shooting films. After returning to London, John Din decided to unite rock-stars and release a special disc collection. Within project frameworks, British rock stars recorded Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water song, with the involvement of musicians from Quenn, Pink Floyd, The Who, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and other groups. Sums obtained from the sale of Rock Aid Armenia disc were directed at eliminating the consequences of 1988 Spitak earthquake.