WhoCares
WhoCares was a supergroup formed by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath in 2011 with the participation of a great number of rock artists as a charity project to raise money to rebuild a music school in Gyumri, Armenia after the destruction of the city in the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. The album sold more than 20,000 copies in Europe.
Members
The super group WhoCares was originally made up Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple) and Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath).
Many artists took part in the project, namely the late Jon Lord (of Deep Purple), Jason Newsted (of Metallica), Nicko McBrain (of Iron Maiden) and Mikko "Linde" Lindström (of HIM)
Background
The formation of the project WhoCares follows a two-decade continuous efforts by Gillan in helping Armenia after the devastating earthquake there in north of the country. Gillan had been involved in Rock Aid Armenia following the earthquake. The documentary Picture of Home shot by Bernie Zelvis and Christina Rowatt documented Gillan's involvement with David Gilmour, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson in recording "Smoke on the Water" as a charity for Armenian relief efforts.
Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares
WhoCares, full title Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares is a music project by Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and a charity release by the supergroup WhoCares they had formed with the help of other musicians, to raise money to rebuild a music school in Gyumri, Armenia after the destruction of the city in the 1988 earthquake in Armenia.
In addition to Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi (who were Black Sabbath bandmates from 1983-1984), many artists took part in the charity music project including Jon Lord (Ian Gillan's then-Deep Purple bandmate), ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, and HIM guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström.
In addition to the 2-track single "Out of My Mind / Holy Water" released in 2011, the 2-CD album contains in addition to previously recorded songs from various bands, rarities and unreleased material as well. The album was released on 13 July 2012 in Europe and in North America on 28 August 2012.
