Deep Purple’s Roger Glover says even if the band were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it’s at least 20 years too late.

And he says if they were voted in, they might not accept and tell the Hall to “forget it.”

The band have been nominated for induction twice in 2013 and 2014, but have yet to make it in, but Glover says he isn’t bothered.

He tells radio show Noize In The Attic: “We’re kind of ambivalent about The Hall Of Fame – we don’t care about it that much. If they do induct us, then they’re at least 20 years too late as far as I’m concerned.

“They should have done it when Jon Lord was still alive when it probably would have had a bit more meaning.

“But if we do get in, and decide to accept it, which is up in the air, we might just say, ‘Forget it.’

“Ian Gillan and I differ slightly. He says Steve Morse has been in the band for 20 years, but I think Ritchie Blackmore deserves to be there. The right thing, if we ever do it, would be to have both of them there.”

Drummer Ian Paice recently said he thinks he’s lost Ritchie Blackmore as a friend, revealing the pair hadn’t spoken in years, while Gillan says he fell out with the guitarist in 1994 because they were both behaving like assholes.

But Glover says not all the feelings surrounding the guitarist’s departure from the band 20 years ago are bad and calls him a “wonderful” character.

He says: “We were friends. Some of the best and worst things happened to me because of Ritchie. He’s a wonderful, wonderful guitarist, writer and character. It’s not all doom and gloom.

“We got on really well for years. I’m happy he’s happy.”

This weekend, frontman Gillan will head to Lyme Regis to take part in a world record attempt, as he sings Smoke On The Water backed by thousands of guitarists as part of Guitars On The Beach – and Glover reveals he still enjoys the track, despite playing it for most of his career.

He continues: “It’s always a slightly different interpretation every night and we know people enjoy it. As guitarist Steve Morse once said, ‘If Smoke On The Water was a button you could press that made the audience go nuts, you’d want to press it.’”

Deep Purple have a new DVD on the way in October titled Around The World Live, which includes three complete live shows and highlights of a fourth, while the band will release the follow-up to 2013’s Now What?! in 2015.