David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the founder and lead singer of the hard rock band Whitesnake. He was also the lead singer of Deep Purple, from 1973 to 1976, after which he released two solo studio albums, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978), before forming Whitesnake in 1978.
During Whitesnake's first hiatus from 1990 to 1993, he collaborated with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on the album Coverdale–Page, which was subsequently certified platinum. In 1997, Whitesnake's ninth studio album Restless Heart, was intended to be released as Coverdale's solo album, but was in the end, released under the title of "David Coverdale & Whitesnake". In 2000, Coverdale released his third studio album Into the Light.
In 2016, Coverdale was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Deep Purple. Coverdale is known, in particular, for his powerful, blues-tinged voice.[3][4] He has sold a cumulative 40 million copies, throughout his career.[5]
Early life
Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, son of Thomas Joseph Coverdale and Winnifred May (Roberts) Coverdale.[6] According to Coverdale, his maternal side and mother "were the singers", while paternal side "were the painters, the sketchers, the artists".[7] He was initiated into music at his maternal grandmother's place and school, at an early age started learning to play guitar and piano, but drawing was his primary medium of expression.[7]
From the beginning Coverdale showed singing talent and "discovered that he could project" and had a "gut voice".[7] Around the age of 14, he began performing professionally and developing his voice. "I don't think my voice had broken", he explained to Sounds, in 1974. "And that's when I first learnt how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's totally different from a normal voice".[citation needed]
Career
Early career
Deep Purple (1973–1976)
Coverdale started his career performing with local bands Vintage 67 (1966–1968), The Government (1968–1972), and Fabulosa Brothers (1972–1973).[8] By 1973, he left art college and was successfully working as a "singing salesman",[7] until he saw an article in a copy of Melody Maker, which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers to replace Ian Gillan.[7] Coverdale had fronted a local group called the Government, which had played with Deep Purple on the same bill in 1969, so he and the band were familiar with one another, and after sending a tape and later auditioning,[7] Coverdale was admitted into the band due to "his singing and songwriting talents",[8] with new bassist Glenn Hughes also providing vocals alongside Coverdale.
In February 1974, Deep Purple released their first album with Coverdale and Hughes, titled Burn, which was certified Gold in the United States on 20 March 1974,[9] and in the UK on 1 July. In April 1974, Coverdale and Deep Purple performed to over 200,000 fans on his first trip to the United States at the California Jam. In December 1974, Burn was followed-up by Stormbringer, which also ranked at Gold album status in the US and the UK. The funk and soul influences of the previous record were even more prominent here and this was one of the reasons guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, left the band in June 1975.[10]
Coverdale standing on the left with Deep Purple Mark IV line-up, 1976
Rather than disbanding, Coverdale was instrumental in persuading the band to continue with American guitarist Tommy Bolin (of Billy Cobham and James Gang fame).[8] As Jon Lord put it, "David Coverdale came up to me and said, 'Please keep the band together.' David played me the album that Tommy did with Billy Cobham. We liked his playing on it and invited Tommy to audition.'"[11] The band released one studio album with Bolin, 1975's Come Taste the Band, which was less commercially successful than previous records. The supporting tour proved difficult, with both Hughes and Bolin having drug habits. In March 1976, at the end of the final show of the tour, Coverdale reportedly walked off in tears and handed in his resignation, to which he was told there was no band left to quit. The decision to disband Deep Purple had been made some time before the last show by Lord and Ian Paice (the last remaining original members), who had not told anyone else. The break-up was finally made public in July 1976. Coverdale said in an interview: "I was frightened to leave the band. Purple was my life, Purple gave me my break, but all the same I wanted out."[12]
Solo efforts White Snake and Northwinds (1977–1978)
After the demise of Deep Purple, Coverdale embarked on a solo career. In the wake of the punk movement, he stayed true to his blues rock roots.[8] He released his first solo studio album in February 1977, titled White Snake. All songs were written by Coverdale and guitarist Micky Moody, and the music shows funk, R&B and jazz influences.[3] As his first solo effort, Coverdale later said: "It's very difficult to think back and talk sensibly about the first album. White Snake had been a very inward-looking, reflective and low-key affair in many ways, written and recorded as it was in the aftermath of the collapse of Deep Purple."[12] Even though the album was not successful, its title inspired the name of Coverdale's future band.[12]
In 1978, Coverdale released his second studio album Northwinds. Its "blues- and R&B-influenced hard rock" style was received much better than the previous album,[13] and in 2021 Classic Rock considered it "a remarkably mature album that can still send shivers down the spine 30 years after it was recorded" and the "antithesis of Whitesnake's super-slick 1987".[14] Before the album's release, he had already formed a new band.[8]
After recording Northwinds, Coverdale soon formed the band Whitesnake, with Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody both handling guitar duties. Although this was originally a touring band for Coverdale's first solo album, it soon developed into a full-time band. In early 1978, the band released an EP titled Snakebite, which was later expanded into a full album, also titled Snakebite, released in June 1978, with the EP on side one and select tracks from Coverdale's Northwinds album on side two. For the follow-up album, Trouble, Coverdale was joined by his former Deep Purple colleague, keyboardist Jon Lord. For Whitesnake's 1980 album, Ready an' Willing, another Deep Purple member, drummer Ian Paice, joined the group. Ready an' Willing also featured the band's biggest hit up to that point, the song "Fool for Your Loving", which reached No. 13 on the British charts,[15] and No. 53 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Ready an' Willing was followed up by the even more successful Come an' Get It in 1981. Coverdale put Whitesnake on hold in early 1982, to make time for the treatment and care of his sick daughter.[7] When he felt that the time was right to return, he reformed the band, which thereafter released the album Saints & Sinners.[8] Also in 1982, Coverdale was considered for the vocalist position of Black Sabbath following the departure of Ronnie James Dio, but he declined, due to him wanting to continue with Whitesnake.[16]
Breakthrough
International success of Whitesnake (1984–1990)
Coverdale performing with Whitesnake on their 1987 tour
Whitesnake gained significant popularity in the UK, Europe, and Asia, but North American success remained elusive.[8] In 1984, the album Slide It In dented the US charts (reaching #40), but not enough to be considered a hit. In time for the US release of Slide It In, Coverdale made a calculated attempt at updating Whitesnake's sound and look by recruiting guitarist John Sykes from the remnants of Thin Lizzy.[7] Sykes brought a more contemporary, aggressive guitar sound with him and had stage manners to match. The last remaining Deep Purple connections were severed when Jon Lord left after recording Slide It In to reunite with Deep Purple, (Ian Paice had left Whitesnake in 1982).
In 1985, Sykes and Coverdale started working on new songs for the next album, but Coverdale soon contracted a serious sinus infection that made recording close to impossible for much of 1986 and which had doctors thinking he might never sing again. Coverdale eventually recovered, and recordings were continued.[8] Before their upcoming album was fully recorded and released, Coverdale had dismissed Sykes from the band.[7][17] In many period interviews, Coverdale stated that the next album was a make-or-break album for Whitesnake, and if not successful he would disband Whitesnake altogether. In 1987 and 1988, North America was finally won over with the multi-platinum self-titled Whitesnake album. Propelled by hit singles such as "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", as well as MTV airing of "Still of the Night", it finally made Whitesnake a "bona fide arena headliner" in North America.[8]
Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, caught in the "hair-band" era, Coverdale kept Whitesnake going with great success despite changing line-ups. In 1989, Coverdale recruited Vandenberg to record a new album, Slip of the Tongue. Vandenberg co-wrote the entire album with Coverdale, but a wrist injury sidelined him from contributing the lead guitar work. Steve Vai was recruited, re-recording most of Vandenberg's existing parts and finishing the album. Upon release, it also was a success in Europe and the US,[8] but it "was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake".[18]
In 1990, Coverdale sang and co-wrote (with Hans Zimmer and Billy Idol) the song "The Last Note of Freedom" for the Tony Scott film Days of Thunder. On 26 September 1990, after the last show on the Slip of the Tongue tour in Tokyo, Coverdale disbanded Whitesnake indefinitely. Tired of the business in general, the rigors of touring and troubled by his separation and later divorce from Tawny Kitaen, Coverdale wanted to find other values in life and took "private time to reflect" and re-assess his career direction.
At that point Coverdale had grown uncomfortable with the entity he believed Whitesnake had become, and admitted that he got "caught up in it". In a 1993 interview with Robert Hilburn, he commented that he "had to stop everything, this whole circus. I had never gone into (music) for the image thing at all, and I really couldn't do it anymore".[19] In one early 90s interview, Coverdale recalled "it got louder and louder, and so did I, to the point now where I have to get dressed up like a "girly man" and tease one's questionable bangs or hair and it's all becoming a bit ... boring".[20]
Coverdale and Page (1991–1993)
In the fall of 1990, a meeting and subsequent collaboration, was set up with guitarist Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin.[19] Both have said that the collaboration, revitalised them on many levels. This collaboration resulted in the album Coverdale–Page, released in March 1993.[19] The album was a hit worldwide, reaching number four in the UK and number five in the US, and was certified Platinum in the US on 7 April 1995.[21] The European and the US tours for the album, had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales, but they held a brief Japanese tour in December 1993, before they parted ways and Page soon started working again with Robert Plant.
Later years
Return of Whitesnake and Restless Heart (1994, 1997–1998)
In 1994, Coverdale assembled a new line-up of Whitesnake (with the exception of Coverdale's musical partner, guitarist Adrian Vandenberg and bassist Rudy Sarzo, both of whom had joined Whitesnake in 1987) to tour in support of the release of Whitesnake's Greatest Hits album. After this Coverdale once again retreated from the music business, for three years.
In 1997 Coverdale returned and released Restless Heart (with Vandenberg on guitar). The album was originally supposed to be Coverdale's solo album, but in the end the record company forced it, to be released under the moniker "David Coverdale & Whitesnake".[7] The tour was billed as Whitesnake's farewell tour, during which Coverdale and Vandenberg played two unplugged shows, one in Japan and the other for VH1.[22][23] The Japanese show was released the next year under the title Starkers in Tokyo.[8] After the tour in support of Restless Heart ended, Coverdale once again folded Whitesnake and took another short break from music.
Back to solo and Into the Light (1999–2002)
In 2000, Coverdale released his first solo studio album in 22 years, titled Into The Light, with the songs "Love is Blind" and "Slave", released as singles. Even though the album was not a big hit, it is his most successful solo album both commercially and critically, with the song "River Song" receiving most attention and the album did return Coverdale, to the music business.[24][25][26] In 2003, the compilation album The Early Years was released, including his two solo albums White Snake and Northwinds from the late 1970s.
Re-reformation of Whitesnake (2003–present)
Coverdale performing with Whitesnake at Clisson, France in 2013Coverdale performing with Whitesnake at Saint-Petersburg, Russia in 2019
In April 2008, the band released its first new studio album in over 11 years titled Good to Be Bad to great reviews.[7][28][29] On 11 August 2009 Whitesnake played a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado when Coverdale suffered a vocal injury. After seeing a specialist, it was announced the following day, that Coverdale had been suffering from severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion. The remainder of the tour with Judas Priest was cancelled so that the injury would not worsen.[30] In March 2011 the band released their 11th studio album, Forevermore.[31]
In May 2015, the band released their 12th The Purple Album, featuring cover versions of the songs that Coverdale had originally sang on with Deep Purple.[32][33] It was followed by a supporting tour.[34] In May 2019, the band released their 13th studio album titled Flesh & Blood.[35]
In May 2022, the band began their COVID-19 delayed farewell tour, with European dates beginning in Dublin on 10 May, but were only able to continue, until their show in Croatia on 2 July 2022.[36] After cancelling the last 11 dates of the European leg of the tour due to health problems affecting various band members including Reb Beach, Tommy Aldridge and Coverdale himself, Whitesnake subsequently cancelled the entire 2022 North American leg of its Farewell Tour as Coverdale was forced to deal with ongoing respiratory health issues.[37]
In 2024, a compilation album, Into the Light: The Solo Albums, was released, containing new mixes and remasters, of all of Coverdale's solo albums under the Whitesnake name.[38]
In 2006, hard rock/heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Coverdale as No. 54 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.[39] In 2009, he was voted as sixth out of 40 contenders for "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by UK classic rock radio station Planet Rock.[40][41]
In 2003, PopMatters proclaimed him as the "crown prince of '70s rock. Not even Plant, definitely not Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, or anyone else can touch Coverdale at this moment in time when it comes to rock icons from that era — it's just a shame that hardly anyone comes to see it".[4] In 2015, Dave Everley of Classic Rock considered that "Whitesnake are one of the great British bands of the past 40 years, and Coverdale is one of the finest blue-eyed soul singers, full-stop".[1] William Pinfold in Record Collector's review of Martin Popoff's 2015 biography on Whitesnake commented that both the band and Coverdale "have been consistently taken seriously" but "are underrated compared with the plaudits given to their 70s/80s peers", considering Coverdale "outrageously talented, charismatic and in equal parts lordly and humble, he's a hugely likeable figure".[42]
Coverdale was married, in 1974, to Julia Borkowski, from Poland, and their daughter was born in 1978. Coverdale's second marriage was with former model and actress, Tawny Kitaen, from 17 February 1989 until they divorced two years later, in April 1991. Kitaen was known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake's music videos for "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", and "Still of the Night". Since marrying on 30 May 1997, he has lived with his third wife, Cindy, an author (The Food That Rocks); they have a son.[44][45]
On 1 March 2007, Coverdale became a US citizen, in a ceremony in Reno, Nevada, and now holds dualUK citizenship and US. For many years in the 1980s he lived in hotels, including the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.[46][47] Since 1988, he has lived on an almost 10,000 sq ft estate in Incline Village, Nevada on Lake Tahoe where he built a luxurious house.[47][48][49] In 2019, he decided to sell it,[50] and in 2021 it was reportedly sold for $6.8 million.[51]
A more spiritual than religious person, since the late 1960s, Coverdale regularly practises meditation, and considers it "the most incredible accessory, or tool, that I've found in my life".[7][47]
1992 Bernie Marsden – The Friday Rock Show Sessions (four live recordings from 1981: "Who's Fooling Who?", "Shakey Ground", "Look At Me Now", "Byblos Shack")
1995 Young & Moody – The Nearest Hits Album (co-writer of "Sunrise To Sunset")
2000 Bernie Marsden – And About Time Too ("Who's Fooling Who", live recording from '81, only on reissue of the album)
↑ Llewellyn, Siân (18 September 2000). "David Coverdale – Into the Light (EMI/Chrysalis - advance CD)". Classic Rock. London, England: Future. p.63.
↑ Mineur, Matthias (2000). "David Coverdale - Into the Light (EMI)". Metal Hammer. Vol.17, no.10. Munich, Germany: AS Young Mediahouse GmbH. p.86.
↑ Syrjala, Marko (14 November 2006). "WHITESNAKE Guitarist Doug Aldrich". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2012. In December 2002 Coverdale reunited Whitesnake for Whitesnake's 25-year anniversary.
↑ McIver, Joel (March 2011). "Good to Be Bad (SPV/Steamhammer)". Classic Rock presents Whitesnake – Forevermore (The Official Album Magazine). London, England: Future plc. p.129.
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