1972 Rock Anthem Inspired by a Catastrophic Concert Fire Became a Timeless Classic
In the 1970s, the English rock band Deep Purple was making a name for themselves in hard rock, releasing music that would endure for decades to come. One of the band's biggest songs, "Smoke on the Water," would go on to become a timeless classic of the genre, but its origin story is a unique one.
In 1971, the day before Deep Purple was set to record music for their album Machine Head, they were in Montreux, Switzerland. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing a show at the Montreux Casino, which would be the theater's last show before it closed for renovations, allowing Deep Purple to use the space for recording.
During the show, a fan fired a flare gun into the ceiling of the venue, which happened to be rattan. As you might expect, it caught on fire, and soon enough, the entire building was engulfed in flames. Deep Purple watched the fire unfold, spreading out over Lake Geneva, from their hotel room. Clearly, it made an impact on the members, directly inspiring one of their next songs.
Bass guitarist and singer Jim Pons, who played for Zappa in the 1970s, spoke about the traumatic incident with Stephen Moore in 2000. He recalled, "The fire broke out in the last few minutes of a 90 minute show… during the encore we never should've given. We were playing 'King Kong' and I looked up to see flames in the second or third row of the balcony."
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Pons noted that the fire seemed small and easily extinguishable at first, so they kept playing, but people quickly started running and freaking out. He said, "I saw the fire fall down from the balcony to the seats below and then I realized that it was becoming a serious emergency. People were screaming and scrambling in all directions to find doors which, in an old theatre like that, were few and far between."
"An unreal episode, but one that we still thought was going to come under control until we got out onto the street and watched the building burn to the ground," he went on, before mentioning Deep Purple as Pons said, "It turns out that members of Deep Purple were also watching from their hotel across the water."
Deep Purple wrote the memorable song soon after, and the lyrics depict the disaster fire. One part of the song says, "Frank Zappa and the Mothers/ Were at the best place around/ But some stupid with a flare gun/ Burned the place to the ground."
Although it was inspired by a dark event, the track became a huge hit for the band. It was released as an official single on Deep Purple's Machine Head album, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 5:26 AM.