Do you love The Princess Bride as much as I do?

Ritchie Blackmore.

That seems to me to be the most appropriate place to start this wonderful journey. If you are like me, the name doesn't not ring much of a bell at first. What about the band Rainbow? No? That's fine... for now. But if you have ever claimed to be a metal-head or rocker while watching Bill & Ted's or playing RockBand or Guitar Hero with your hipster friends, this is a good place to start backing-up all your talk. Turn down your Bon Iver or Mates of State CD or push pause on your super niche Fiest album that makes you feel like such a trend-setter. Rock 101 is about to begin.

The video below is from Ritchie's latest project Blackmore's Night. Watch it. Now, before you start laughing, a little history on Mr. Blackmore's resumé.

Richard Hugh Blackmore was born 14 April 1945 in England. He was a founding member of both Deep Purple and Rainbow. Now Deep Purple need little in the way of introduction. But what some people don't know is that at one point or another, David Coverdale (Whitesnake) and Joe Satriani (Taught Satan himself the guitar) both served time in the band. Now not as many people have heard of the band Rainbow, but I'll tell you who has: Ronnie James Dio the alleged inventor of "The Slayer," (hand gesture made by making a fist, then raising your pointer-finger and pinkie) and front man of Black Sabbath. Last but not least, Ritchie was ranked number 55 on the list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Side note: He also won the Dave Boyd Chester the Molester Mustache Award for 2003-2006.