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Coverdale on his retirement
Speaking about “those who can afford to retire, will retire”, David Coverdale said just that in his interview to Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown on Detroit radio station WRIF. Besides retirement, he’s promoting a new Whitesnake compilation and talks about the fate of ’84 album, noting that 50% of that band is now gone.
I have a feeling it’s gonna take a little while to get things back to any semblance of what we knew before. So what we have to do is think outside the box. I have to get this surgery and get up and running. And what better age for the Whitesnake lead singer to go out and retire on — 69.
I’ve always written songs that challenge me as a vocalist, and I’m 68 now. So I think 69 would be appropriate for Whitesnake’s lead singer [to retire], wouldn’t you?
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info and quotes.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Ian G is 74. He’s still going strong.
April 18th, 2020 at 20:27well strong physically yes,but his voice has gone like 25 years ago.
April 18th, 2020 at 20:28Alket Kellici Nonsense. Not as strong but doesn’t do a bad job at all.
April 18th, 2020 at 20:35Keith Livingstone if you hear his signing you will understand,Granted he can sing studio.I love the guy don’t get me wrong but you should listen to Glenn Hughes singing rock music instead.You know it
April 18th, 2020 at 20:37Is he giving the guys in DP some ideas?
April 18th, 2020 at 20:37What is the big fuss Mr Coverdale?
Are you planning a long goodbye tour next year after we all get the vaccine?
Stay safe and look after your mental health everyone.
Keith Livingstone fa canzoni adatte alla sua voce attuale, che è bellissima
April 18th, 2020 at 21:18Actually his voice has retired for years!
April 18th, 2020 at 21:23Dora M. Frasca Exactly 👍🏻
April 19th, 2020 at 05:55And in other news: Joe Lynn Turner is waiting by the phone for ANY of the Purple Family bands to have their singer quit,or DIE, so he can become that bands singer! Thus making his annoying habit of COVERING MATERIAL from original bands,as his own!😆
April 19th, 2020 at 11:50Good ol’ DC,persisting with the sleazy innuendo well past it’s “best before” date.
April 19th, 2020 at 12:42Covid may mean that many classic bands have already played their final shows 18 months down the road,these “live from the kitchen’ Internet shows may have grown into ” Rent a hall,put on a real concert,for a Pay-per- View”audience” as a way to make money .It’s all a big “Now What ?!” at present.
No need to retire, David, all you need is
– a decent haircut (preferable in grey) and
– someone you can write songs with in keys befitting your age so your rich baritone can be heard once again.
It’s something you should have done 25 years ago btw. You’d be an established artist for grown-ups not reading Metal Hammer by now and your Christmas Songs CD would be in all households.
April 19th, 2020 at 16:22Alket Kellici I’ve been listening to Deep Purple in various forms for over 41yrs. I think I’m more than qualified to hear what’s right and what’s not. NO ONE is going to have as strong a singing voice now as they did 25-50yrs ago…BUT, Ian has adapted and sings in a lower register now. I’ve met Glenn Hughes on a few occasions in a private capacity with my work and I will agree he can belt out a tune..but he is a different style of singer completely singing (mostly) different songs. There can be no comparison.
April 19th, 2020 at 19:12Keith Livingstone agreed
April 19th, 2020 at 20:23Sorry to hear that. I would miss his music and his musings big time. I just think his voice isn’t like it used to be – but that’s no surprise; everything changes, so it could be roll with the changes I think. How about a bit more of the acoustic stuff, unplugged, laid back, a littel story telling … I would love it and I’m sure lots of people would.
April 20th, 2020 at 08:53To my ears, there is a huge dif in how Ian’s and David’s voices have aged:
Granted, Gillan has lost the former ease of his top range – and if you listen closely it has been dwindling since the early 70ies, with Machine Head being the last studio album where his high range was impeccable. But he has also gained something, his low range has much more expression today, I really like it when he sings deeper.
I still love Coverdale’s baritone. I never went for his falsetto (there was little expression in it, even when he could still do it, just not his natural range), it had none of the ease of Gillan (or Hughes for that matter – to my ears, David und Glenn were therefore the perfect vocal duo). The late Whitesnake and Coverdale Page years were painful for me – those helium voice acrobatics never sounded natural to me, why the hell would someone with a voice so much akin to Paul Rodgers (who always cleverly avoided stuff that was too high-pitched for him) opt for that (lyrically always incomprehensible) banshee screaming of Robert Plant? And just like Gillan, Coverdale’s voice already showed strain early on – as early as on the Come And Get It Tour in fact, and never really recovered live, a lot of the vocals on 1987 and SOTT were sheer studio wizardry, he never cut it live when I saw him in that era. David is no Robert Halford and never was. These days, when I hear Whitesnake live and he stretches his vocal chords I wince – not because he hits bum notes, but because his voice sounds like something that is permanently und painfully damaged. But his baritone can still carry a song beautifully – I’d like to hear more of that even after Whitesnake has shedded its scales for good.
April 21st, 2020 at 20:07Alket Kellici you’re spot on about Glenn Hughes. I saw him doing Mk2 and 4 in November. Not much pulled from the Stormbringer album but he sure can still belt out the tunes. The Cov’s voice is still OK but sounds quite gravelly nowadays. Still love a lot of his music, though.
April 22nd, 2020 at 14:59Whitesnake is his baby and paycheck, he has had a go at softer material a couple of times in his career “Northwinds” and “into the light” and as good as they are they didn’t sell . He would struggle to sell a thousand tickets for an acoustic show. He runs Whitesnake as a business and surrounds himself with people who keep him in a positive frame of mind to put it diplomatically.
April 22nd, 2020 at 18:57David was a great singer. One of the best voices I ever heard. Having said that, I happy he’s retiring. I saw him on his last US tour and he can’t sing close to the standard he set. It also looked like he was lip syncing.
The voice is shot and the band is nothing special. I actually saw purple and snake a couple days apart promoting the Purple album tour. -urple sound was so much better.
I’m a fan since Burn. I thank David for inspiring me but it’s important to know when it’s time.
April 22nd, 2020 at 19:35It’s interesting. A singer speaks of retirement and all of a sudden the bashing starts. It’s pointless. @ Uwe (#11): Spot on!
April 24th, 2020 at 01:44Coverdales voice is completely shot and gets by in live performances because he has a band of good back up singers, has a strong catalogue of good arena rock songs and is a charismatic showman. I enjoyed my last WS show but it was almost comical the lengths the band takes to cover David’s vocal shortcomings.
Glenn Hughes sings better now than in 74. He is a remarkable vocalist considering his age and the wear on his proverbial tires.
Ian has vocal issues, but can still put on a passable vocal performance. But he is a shadow of his former vocal glory..:but I think he’s smart enough to realize his vocal limitations.
Ian is also blessed to have a back catalogue rich enough were the can dump songs like Child in Time he can’t sing any more and you hardly notice.
April 24th, 2020 at 12:21@19, come on man and get off your high horse. Bands like Purple and Whitesnake charge a pretty Penney to see them. I was out close to $200 US the last time I saw WS (last US tour….last 2 actually). David can’t sing. Like some else said, his voice is damaged. He also lip syncs and uses a lot of effects on his voice. It is totally a fan’s right to comment on the performance when he pays the big bucks to see an artist.
For me, I’m done with Whitesnake. I’m glad he’s retiring. I have great memories but it’s not close to the level it was. Purple on the other hand still attracts me live. I’ve seen virtually every US tour with Morse and it is very repetitive. This nonsense Purple still preaches that every show is different is completely false. Nevertheless, Ian can still sound like Ian and the rest of the band plays fantastic. I always have fun and have their sound in my head for the next few days.
I saw snake and purple a couple of days apart in Westbury NY. Purple’s sound was much better. Snake was very distorted and Coverdale’s voice was completely processed through effects plus he lip sync’d. Other observations of those shows, Snake nearly sold out the venue….say 80% sold. Purple was maybe 65% sold. Coverdale actually mentioned Purple playing the venue right before them and was very classy in his comments. The audience for each band was completely different. Purple’s was older and snake was mostly people who grew up in 80s. There was virtually no reaction when Coverdale spoke to the crowd about his purple days. I’m sure most had no idea what he was talking about. Whitesnake’ s warmup band ended their set with….”Hush”. The band clearly thought the audience would go nuts. There was barely a reaction. I think old school purple fans are Whitesnake fans but Whitesnake fans in the USA for the most part are not Purple fans.
I agree, Hughes is as good as ever.
April 25th, 2020 at 18:00Comment no. 16.
April 26th, 2020 at 11:58I obviously meant Mk3 & 4.
Should have proof read it earlier lol
@21 Pretty good summing up of the situation. I was at that Westbury show and I thought Coverdale was pretty good considering. I didn’t see the Purple show but I have seen the modern band a few times. David really needs to adjust his performance like Gillan has but for some reason he still needs to perform the Tarzan act. A great shame, with the proper support he still has the ability to project a good performance within his capabilities. I guess the band in this form still attracts decent sized audiences and therefore big bucks but I think the hardened fan base is reducing fast. I don’t believe he will retire just yet. Glenn still does it BUT I struggle with him as a lead singer and front man even though he delivers the goods.
April 27th, 2020 at 14:19Dont like the word shot. Less good, certainly, except Hughes. Just wish he didn’t scream so much, just because he can. Lip synching…does Coverdale do this? The only footage I’ve seen is monsters of rock last year. Not his old voice, obviously, but good enough to go and see. Everyone mocks McCartney. His last album sounded ok, as did hey jude at the Olympics. But as always, if you dont like, dont pay.
August 1st, 2020 at 06:23