Deep Purple have announced they'll be entering the studio in early 2016 to begin recording their 20th studio album! During a new interview, guitarist Steve Morse revealed the sessions will begin in the middle of January.

Deep Purple's latest album, Now What?!, was the first to chart in the U.S. since The Battle Rages On… was released in 1993. "We've been working on the material, several writing sessions, and we have one more session before we actually start recording," Steve Morse told the GuitCast podcast. "And the recording is gonna be about the middle of January."

This news comes just days after Deep Purple were nominated for a 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. This is the third time Deep Purple have received a nomination, having been denied for the classes of 2013 and 2014 to the tremendous dismay of rock fans worldwide.

Despite Deep Purple's multiple snubs, frontman Ian Gillan hasn't lost much sleep over it. "Whatever I say about that is gonna sound wrong. But who the hell wants to be in an institution?" Gillan asked Chile's Radio Futuro. "The Hall Of Fame thing, it's an American thing. We don't have that in England or Germany or Australia or Russia or anywhere in the world apart from America. And it's an institution. What's that got to do with rock and roll? Also, it's run by these old guys who thought that the Monkees were America's answer to the Beatles. And they called Deep Purple. [Laughs] I don't think they quite understand what we are. They called us one-hit wonders. So I don't know what they were talking about."

Deep Purple are currently in fourth place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's fan voting page behind Chicago, Yes and Steve Miller.

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