Jon Lord founded, as its keyboard player, Deep Purple, one of the most influential (and loudest) rock bands. Lord looked very much the part of the 1970s' rock star: long, straggly hair and large moustache. Along with hits such as 'Smoke on the Water', he also composed Classical music, such as his Durham Concerto (commissioned from Durham University in 2007); he claimed Deep Purple's music was "as valid as anything by Beethoven". He worked with the London Symphony Orchestra on his first album, Gemini Suite. Lord was born on 9 June 1941 in Leicester, England, and died on 16 July 2012.