The Purple Grenadier occurs in East Africa. The species account consulted uses the name Granatina ianthinogaster, while the candidate pool lists Uraeginthus ianthinogaster. Adult males and females differ in their underpart colors.
Adult males have a cinnamon-colored head and neck, a bright blue eye-ring, and deep blue underparts. Adult females lack blue on the underparts and have brownish coloring extending from the head to the chest and sides.
It lives in arid and semi-arid areas with thorn scrub, acacia groves, and open woodland with grass. It feeds on the ground near thickets, taking small grass seeds, insects, termites, and spiders.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.