Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician who is the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple.

The Maze featured vocalist Rod Evans, who alongside Paice was to form the original line-up of Deep Purple in March 1968.

Evans had responded to an ad for a lead singer published by Deep Purple management, and showed up for his audition with Ian Paice in tow.

Given that Deep Purple's first choice as drummer, Bobby Woodman, had expressed dislike for the band's musical direction, the group hastily arranged an audition for Paice, with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore leading the charge.

The band, also comprising singer/pianist Tony Ashton, Deep Purple organist Jon Lord, guitarist/vocalist Bernie Marsden and bassist Paul Martinez, recorded one album (Malice in Wonderland) and played only five live shows.

At that point, the band only consisted of singer and multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule (all of the other members, including Lou Reed, had either left or been fired by their manager), and the album was poorly received and quickly fell into obscurity.

In 1973, Paice was among English rock musicians invited by Eddie Harris, an American jazz player, to take part in the saxophonist's London sessions at Morgan Studios.

In July 1989, Paice took part in George Harrison's recording session at Friar Park, which resulted in three songs "Cheer Down", "Cockamamie Business" and "Poor Little Girl", which also featured Jeff Lynne, Jim Horn and Richard Tandy among others.

Paice also joined the album's line-up at three one-off performances in September and December 1999, including a show at the famous Cavern Club.

Apart from the regular setlist consisting of songs from York's and Paice's back catalogue, the shows featured impromptu drumming demonstrations and Q&A sessions.

Marton's live album Dal Vero features Paice on the Jimi Hendrix songs "Stone Free" and "Hey Joe".

In mid-2011, Paice took part in the all-star recording of William Shatner's Seeking Major Tom, the actor's fourth album, a collection of space-themed cover songs.

[7] On 31 March and 1 April 2006, Paice joined Don Airey, Thomas Blug and Thijs van Leer at impromptu performances held during the ProLight+Sound fair in Frankfurt, Germany.

Commenting after the show Paice said: "ATRiuM will be a great place for young musicians to learn their craft, not to mention all the other things they’ve got going on there.

[8] On 13 January 2008, Paice took part in the ChildLine Rocks charity concert in London, where he played live with former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes for the first time since 1976.

He joined an all-stars line-up featuring Pete York, Leland Sklar, Steve Lukather, Bobby Kimball and John Miles among others.

Paice played on 10 of 32 songs performed that night, including The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Come Together", Allman Brothers Band's "One Way Out", Steve Wonder's "Superstition" and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".

Apart from Paice, guests included Jerry Brown, Mark Brzezecki, Jimmy Degrasso, Darrin Mooney, and Dan Foord.

On 6 September 2009, Paice joined Neil Murray, Doogie White, Jonathan Noyce, Clive Bunker and Phil Hilborne at a "Night with Jethro Tull and Deep Purple" concert in Turin, Italy.

On 18 April 2010, Paice, Jon Lord and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson joined leading actors (Gillian Anderson, Julie Christie, Sinéad Cusack, Emilia Fox, Derek Jacobi, Zoe Wanamaker, James Wilby, among others) to support Survival International at the Apollo Theatre in London for fundraising event "We are One – a celebration of tribal peoples", created by actor Mark Rylance.

[citation needed] On 16 September 2012, Paice appeared at the Sunflower Jam charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall, performing alongside guitarist Brian May of Queen, bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson and Alice Cooper.

[16] He returned to stage with Deep Purple in Gothenburg on 1 July, playing a full setlist with the band, but without performing his drum solo.

Today Paice uses Pearl drumkits as his main performing drums, incorporating Paiste cymbals, Remo drumheads and Pro-Mark drumsticks.

[5] Paice's early influences include jazz and rock drummers such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Bobby Elliott, Ringo Starr and Charles Connor,[18] and later he was inspired by Carmine Appice, Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell.

Paice has been cited as an influence on many notable rock drummers, including Clive Burr,[20] Mikkey Dee,[21] Virgil Donati,[22] Dave Grohl,[23] Gary James,[24] Simon Phillips[25] and Matt Starr.

On 2 April 2012, Paice was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Buddy Rich 25th Anniversary Memorial Concert at the London Palladium.