Very VERY sad news. Actually had a good old weep about it. Was only watching him on BBC 4 the other night discussing the birth of 'heavy metal'. A wonderful musician in his way and never seemed to get too far up his own bits (arguably getting close to doing so with the 1969 Concerto for group and orchestra thingy) despite his wealth and fame.
Very sad. I'm playing Highway Star right now to honour him.
I saw Jon Lord perform with Deep Purple at Birmingham NEC in the mid 80s when the classic line-up reformed. Despite the best primadonna efforts of Ritchie Blackmore to sabotage the show, Lord and the rest of the band were consummate professionals.