Rainbow are a British rock band, formed in 1975 by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. They were originally established with Ronnie James Dio's American rock band Elf, but after their self-titled debut album, Blackmore fired the backing members and continued with Dio. Rainbow recorded two more studio albums with DioRising and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll before he left the band to join Black Sabbath in 1979.Rainbow's early work primarily featured mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style, then went in a more pop-rock oriented direction following Dio's departure from the group. Three British musicians joined in 1979singer Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey and then-former Deep Purple bassist Roger Gloverand this line-up gave the band their commercial breakthrough with the single "Since You Been Gone" from their fourth studio album Down to Earth. The band continued their success in the early 1980s with their next three albums Difficult to Cure, Straight Between the Eyes and Bent Out of Shape. After breaking up in 1984, Blackmore reformed Rainbow in 1993 with a new lineup, which recorded their eighth and last studio album to date Stranger in Us All.