Whitesnake founder David Coverdale says it's 'time for me to call it a day' after five-decade career

Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale had an important announcement to make: He’s quitting.

Actually, retiring is much similar it. And successful classy fashion.

“After 50 years-plus of an unthinkable travel with you, with Deep Purple, with Whitesnake, Jimmy Page, the past fewer years it’s been precise evident to maine that it’s time, really, for maine to bent up my stone ‘n’ rotation level shoes and my skin-tight jeans,” the 74-year-old vocalist said portion holding a highball glass, successful a video posted Thursday connected YouTube.

“And, arsenic you tin see,” helium said, ruffling the chin-length grey hairsbreadth that has replaced his well-known agelong locks, “we’ve taken attraction of the lion’s wig.”

After a fewer years with section bands successful the precocious 1960s and aboriginal ‘70s, including a set that opened for Deep Purple, Coverdale stepped into the stone ‘n’ rotation public’s oculus erstwhile helium took implicit arsenic that band’s frontman successful 1973. He would spell connected to recovered Whitesnake 5 years later.

Coverdale hung it up temporarily erstwhile before, aft wrapping a Whitesnake satellite circuit astatine the extremity of 1990, lone to find himself “in an appalling, confused authorities crossed the committee ... privately and professionally.” He was joined to histrion Tawny Kitaen — who had starred successful a big of Whitesnake videos successful the MTV-dominated precocious ‘80s — from 1989 to 1991 and remembered that full clip successful an interrogation with The Times a mates of years aboriginal arsenic his “mousse abuse” period. The band’s popularity had exploded.

“I conscionable had to halt everything ... this full circus. I had ne'er gone into [music] for the representation happening astatine each ... and I truly couldn’t bash it anymore.”

But it was a abbreviated retirement: By the adjacent spring, helium had teamed up with Led Zeppelin guitarist Page and begun moving connected a Coverdale/Page medium that was released successful 1993. One grounds exec astatine the clip disparagingly called it a “rock mentation of a firm merger.” But the medium was a hit.

At the time, Page told The Times that aft doing unsatisfying solo enactment successful the years aft John Bonham died and Zeppelin broke up, “working with David was a wholly antithetic thing. It was abruptly close backmost to that archetypal spark of creativity and ideas flowing.”

Coverdale chimed in: “A batch of radical could misconstrue the set arsenic immoderate benignant of firm (game plan) due to the fact that we stock the aforesaid grounds company, but that was purely coincidental. We didn’t acceptable retired to marque Led Snake.

“The archetypal denotation of conscionable however peculiar this could beryllium was erstwhile Jimmy and I started walking astir Manhattan and really stopped traffic,” helium continued. “People started honking their horns and asking if we were going to beryllium moving together. It was a precise chilling infinitesimal successful a affirmative sense.”

Despite the record’s success, the bulk of their planned circuit had to beryllium axed due to the fact that of mediocre summons sales, leaving a reinvigorated Coverdale to reconstitute Whitesnake successful 1994 with immoderate caller members. They were unneurotic for 4 years and went connected a circuit that was billed arsenic Whitesnake’s farewell.

Unsurprisingly, and erstwhile again, it was not the band’s past hurrah. Whitesnake returned successful 2002 to circuit with Scorpions and, successful consequent years, released their 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th workplace albums. That past was a spot unlucky, perhaps; little than a twelvemonth later, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed a planned Whitesnake circuit until 2022. Then wellness problems among the set members — including Coverdale — derailed that effort aft lone a mates of months.

The singer’s authoritative status comes aft Whitesnake released a top hits grounds past year.

“It’s clip for maine to telephone it a day,” Coverdale said successful his Thursday video. “I emotion you dearly. I convey everyone who’s assisted and supported maine connected this unthinkable journey. All the musicians, the crew, the fans, the family. It’s amazing. But it truly is clip for maine to conscionable bask my retirement. And I anticipation you tin admit that.

“I emotion you with each my heart,” helium said, lifting his highball solid successful a toast. “Fare thee well.”

Then the signaling chopped to a remix of Whitesnake’s opus “Forevermore,” with the video including pictures from passim Coverdale’s career.

“Without a doubt, this is the classiest farewell I person ever seen oregon heard from an artist,” 1 instrumentality wrote successful comments. “Words cannot explicit what your euphony has meant to me. Thank you for everything, and fare thee well, indeed.”

Said another: “Respect to David who knows erstwhile it’s clip to telephone it a day. Some ne'er quit, adjacent aft it’s excessively late. David is not that man. Short and to the constituent with small fanfare. This is however it is done. Bless you, David.”