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The tour that fell apart like Jenga
Reb Beach gave several interviews over the last few months, in which he reminisces about his days in Whitesnake and their ill-fated last tour.
In February 2026 he spoke to Blabbermouth:
It was the worst ending that it could have been. It couldn’t have been any worse than it was. It’s just how the cookie crumbled. We had a new management, and we had a terrible soundman, then everyone got sick, and it fell apart like Jenga, like all over the table: ‘Okay, guys, that’s it. We sucked. Goodbye.
The whole band’s sound was bad. We had shitty hotels. It was a terrible tour; that last tour. Now that’s going to be the fucking headline! [Laughs] I got sick early on during the tour. I was the music director of that tour, and I wasn’t happy with what was going on with some of the sound issues. It had nothing to do with David’s voice or anything. We weren’t the team we used to be. We had some great things on that tour, like Tanya [O’Callaghan], the bass player. She was incredible. We all loved her, like, if you even looked at her wrong, all of us would kill you. We’d gang up on you. She was our sister. That was a beautiful breath of fresh air. It’s really cool that they got to play with Steve Vai. I missed out on that one. That was super-cool. Other than that, we had a whole tour scheduled with SCORPIONS. David couldn’t do it. He called me and said, ‘Rebel. I’m exhausted.’ He was having some issues at the time, so he told me to leave my equipment at his house in case we record something. That was three years ago. They called and said, ‘We’ve got your equipment. We’re sending it back.’ [Laughs] That’s it. WHITESNAKE is definitely done.
In a more recent interview with TotalRock, he looks back at his serpentine tenure rather fondly:
I was so fortunate to be in the band longer than anybody else, 22 years or something. And like Kip Winger says: “I never got a chance to play arenas, and being in a nice tour bus and flying on a private jet and all that.” And I did it for 20 years. So I feel really blessed. And so thankful to David for keeping me on for so long.
Thanks to Uwe for the heads-up, and to Ultimate Guitar for the quotes.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
It never occurred to me but Reb Beach, who always had to take a backseat to Doug Aldrich in DC’s preference, is indeed by a stretch the musician DC played longest with – and they apparently never fell out. Having played on four WS studio albums ain’t too shabby either, he is only beat by Bernie and Micky who achieved five and six, respectively (if you don’t count the Snakebite EP as an album).
Leaving guitarists for a moment, Neil Murray is likely the musician with the longest tenure in Whitesnake, clocking up seven studio albums and nearly ten years. For that contribution and Neil’s good citizen demeanor all that time (not to mention the quality of his bass playing!), his treatment by DC has been especially deplorable. Compared to Neil, Rudy Sarzo never played a meaningful bass line on a WS record in his life (he actually played on only one in any case).
June 2nd, 2026 at 13:08Respect and admire Coverdale’s decision to hang his platform boots. If you feel you can’t continue like it used to be, or your health does not allow to continue anymore, then stop than being an embarrassment.
I’m also surprised that the idea of having new Whitesnake vocalist was also ringing in Coverdale’s head, like Reb Beach said. As predicted, no one (labels/producers) wanted it. One doesn’t go to Rolling Stones concert without Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin concert without Plant, Dio concert without Ronnie Dio. The same with Whitesnake, the iconic lead vocalist name is so attached to the band.
https://rockcelebrities.net/david-coverdale-tried-to-continue-whitesnake-with-new-singer-but-no-one-wanted-it-reb-beach-reveals/
Still, the idea of continuing with Dino Jelusick (keyboardist, but all know he’s the 2nd vocalist) as the lead vocal, it could be successful. The man has incredible voice and range. Dare to say, IMO the Croatian man is the world’s best rock vocalist right now.
Still of the Night (Dino Jelusick in Jakarta 2025, with Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeJMptUUE7A
Judgement Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UARPYH51VxI
Fool for your Loving (acoustic with Joel Hoekstra in Monsters of Rock Cruise 2022), he really channeled David Coverdale here, my goodness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIcz0pbFgII
Here I Go Again (acoustic, also from MORC 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He6t9US51Ds
And the other Whitesnake members surely would grant approval as they have played together for maybe around 1,5 years. Instead of hiring new unknown vocalist with different personality that might not match with them.
Perhaps Dino and the rest of Whitesnake could continue by altering the band name to make it different, so labels would give it a chance. Coverdale could also contribute through songwriting.
I don’t want to see a talent like Dino Jelusick didn’t get his break to lead an established band and touring all over the world. Even Simon McBride finally got his break at 43 years old.
June 3rd, 2026 at 02:25The idea of keeping the ‘Snake going without Cov shows that rock has finally become classic music. Previously, who performed a song mattered more than who wrote it. It was playing and singing that made the song. Now, it matters more that it is a song that Whitesnake wrote and recorded, but with the original musicians gone, anybody can sing it and people will still listen. It’s like Bach and Mozart. They are long gone, but different orchestras keep playing their oeuvre.
June 3rd, 2026 at 09:43The creation of a post-DC WS might have actually worked had DC passed the baton to Dino in a more obvious fashion on that last aborted tour. If he had made Dino his Glenn Hughes and featured him more prominently (not hiding him behind a stack of keyboards), but upfront and swapping lines with him, even introduced him to the crowds as “the baby snake that will coil for you in the future”, then a sizable amount of fans and even promoters might have been swayed. I certainly would have taken a look at the new WS.
If we’re honest, then the weakest and frailest performances from the last chapters of WS did not emanate from the assorted side musicians but from the man who owned the operation.
It’s been done before: Blood, Sweat & Tears are a touring act licensed by former member/drummer Bobby Colomby (I believe he in turn bought those rights off ex-singer David Clayton Thomas) and occasionally a member from BS&T’s heyday joins them for a leg of a tour or a few dates. Rick Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd seems to have a similar arrangement with the new Blackfoot.
Speaking of Lynyrd Skynyrd, they don’t have a single member from the classic line-up anymore, yet their legitimacy is hardly ever questioned. Medlocke drummed (did not play guitar!) on the first album I think but left afterwards and was never a part of the mid 70s classic LS nor involved in that fateful plane crash.
June 3rd, 2026 at 12:33At one point it was mysteriously changed from “Whitesnake’s farewell tour” to “David Coverdale’s farewell tour”, with the addition of Dino as a boy-toy asset in the background.
Later on came the “Whitesnake Experience” supposed one-off show with Dino and ex members which then was cancelled.
So I think it was indeed in David’s head the idea of continuing the franchise, and let the songs live on, maybe on the vein of what Foreigner is doing now without Mick Jones?
The danger is to fall into a “Dio Disciples” style abyss, and DC is a very smart man in how he runs his business, I think.
@2
“Respect and admire Coverdale’s decision to hang his platform boots. If you feel you can’t continue like it used to be, or your health does not allow to continue anymore, then stop”
Absolutely agree.
He also sold his catalog so time to enjoy life!
No need to carry a troupe of aging male-bimbos around anymore (Tommy excepted, a force of nature himself).
Cheers.-
June 3rd, 2026 at 12:56They could always call themselves SLYTHERIN!
https://png.pngtree.com/png-clipart/20250515/original/pngtree-a-slytherin-house-emblem-featuring-detailed-green-serpent-png-image_20986950.png
https://45.media.tumblr.com/8c205594a24d4fcd061877e5c61fcf41/tumblr_o0y3ydcg2J1uuniu5o2_500.gif
Who knows, the new name might even attract some homeless Harry Potter fans … Dino could rechristen himself Draco (that still sounds suitably Croatian me thinks) and color his hair platinum blond.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSd7pQejjNkiNdfDiTLjDMXNXtgqLwAeqAvDg&s
Now, now, before anybody hisses (pun meticulously worked on …), hair coloring and Whitesnake do have a long hisstory! And the lighter the blond, the deeeeeeper the emotion … (I’m surptrised that wasn’t yet used in a hair color commercial.)
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/36/86/81/36868171379853e0fefccc46ff87667b.gif
PS: I’m still worried about DC’s total radio silence. Last time he disappeared like that was when his daughter Jessica was really ill in the early 80s. The fact that there is absolutely no news on the once grandly announced remix of the Coverdale Page album doesn’t exactly calm me down either. He can’t have sold the rights to that unless Jimmy Page agreed which I doubt happened.
June 3rd, 2026 at 14:38@4
Yes Uwe, that’s the wisest way to do it. Coverdale passing the torch to Dino either gradually or even ‘ceremonially’ during the concerts. And then make the public announcement about it.
If there will be “Whitesnake 2.0”, IMO the band’s name should reflect the life of the band (so audience will quickly relate) but wisely should not contain anything from “Whitesnake” phrase.
Use the idea of “Last in Line”. Perhaps name like “Slide It In”, “Judgment Day” (Coverdale said should have been the 1st hit single from Slip of the Tongue), or “Here We Go Again” (corny yes, and it’s too long but recognizable, plus the emphasis of “go again”). Or maybe “Flesh and Blood”, Whitesnake’s last album since most of the personnels might be the same.
My favorite would be “Love Hunter”, sounds cool and it mirrors the grand theme of Whitesnake lyrics. Of course, as long as they don’t feel obliged to play the song “Love Hunter”, it hasn’t been played for how many decades. But it’s a cool, groovy track, so the band might try.
June 4th, 2026 at 01:55I tend to think DC went on too long. The last couple of albums were by-the-numbers even for WS, and the singing on the live DP-tribute record was well below par. So to say he deserves respect for recognizing this and bowing out is perhaps too generous. As for a WS-Experience franchise, I get that the thought of raking in more money must be tempting but to me that is all too sad. As we enter the AI and avatar-era, I understand that people in 50 years will get to ‘see’ the rock greats perform ‘almost’ live, so DC has to think of his long-term legacy and family finances when he’s gone but better to just lock the rights down legally now and avoid the mess.
June 5th, 2026 at 01:21A young man from Yorkshire how he used to talk:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GiEejHBsVrs
June 5th, 2026 at 02:35I think we have all seen quite enough of Whitesnake and David Coverdale for one lifetime.
June 5th, 2026 at 08:19@10
Oh no not me!
Andrew I have just recently learned to appreciate the great singer, and I am actually grateful for every bits and pieces there are said in here 😊
Until recently I only focused on the main vocalist of Purple, so I have a lot to learn, and I’ve found out it’s not everything I can google or read at Wikipedia that is correct 😁
June 5th, 2026 at 13:00Max and Uwe however, they are living encyclopaedias into the soulful singer 😊
There is a lot less to write about DC because for all his outward flamboyance he is a very private person who dislikes to be discovered or analyzed. There is a public, impressive, but mostly hollow David Coverdale and there is a secluded one we know almost nothing about. DC’s lyrics are only sometimes and then only vaguely diaristic and he shuns or glosses over hot or personal topics in interviews.
I actually know very little about DC as a person. His childhood and youth in less than ideal economic circumstances in a region of England generally deemed left behind would be interesting to know better for instance. Or why America has become his spiritual and factual home (and Saltburn-by-the-Sea doesn’t even get a donation for a bridge repair from one of its now famous and wealthy sons). He lets none of that out. We don’t even know what really led him to divorce Tawny: the fact that she would call him at inappropriate times in the studio to discuss the color of the curtains in their new home – as women do – can have hardly been the reason alone. His falling out with John Sykes – the man so pivotal to DC’s second career – is mostly shrouded in mystery too. So John thought DC was faking vocal cords issues because he had a mental block to sing while Coverdale has spun this yarn of Sykes trying to oust him and get a new singer in, which the latter denied vehemently while he was still alive.
June 5th, 2026 at 14:20@12
I think that too, can that be enough to cause a break up?:
“We don’t even know what really led him to divorce Tawny: the fact that she would call him at inappropriate times in the studio to discuss the color of the curtains in their new home – as women do – can have hardly been the reason alone.”
Well, I don’t know of course 😄
I remember that you posted a picture of a very young David Coverdale, a little chubby and with thick glasses.
June 5th, 2026 at 17:42And you told that “someone” put him on diets pills.
Made me quite sad actually, but woah how he turned out to be a powerhouse in himself, I mean, take a look at this wonderful performance:
https://youtu.be/s_q0IA7CKhY?is=iCLEBuGFtKUjNWCZ
It is ADORABLE 😍🤩
#13 Karin:
David must certainly be given credit for having sweated like few others to achieve success with his Whitesnake, he always believed in it and evolved along the way with a common thread that linked his first solo works to the hit parade air metal of the late 80s and even to the subsequent albums with a certain return to the origins, and this is commendable, a hard, very hard work for this MKIII boy who has demonstrated his greatness as a composer and as a frontman giving us unforgettable performances and songs that have carved themselves into the history of hard rock.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:55@14
Fla76, you know I didn’t like to listen to DC at first, because I heard his voice from his latest years, and in my ears it was broken, his breathing was strained, he did not sound healthy…
But listening to his start, with Purple but also with the ‘first’ Whitesnake, really turned me around 😊
How I would have liked for him to have taken care of his beautiful voice 😊
And now I can listen to the later stuff and hear it with greater pleasure, but still his breathing is heavy, and not in the good way 😁
And yes, I still prefer the voice of Ian, even now as a 80 yo – WOAH MAN he can sing… ☺️
June 7th, 2026 at 04:36Fla76: DC’s work ethos is beyond dispute, I believe he is a much more industrious man than, say, Big Ian. DC has that drive of many social climbers who never really trust the fact that the riches they have (deservedly) achieved for themselves will last.
As regards David’s voice: I think he paid the price for opting to force himself into tenor territory when he should have explored baritone territory more (as Phil Lynott did) – and that unfortunately already started with Purple (where he however enjoyed the effortless support of Glenn for many vocal passages).
When Purple split he swore that he didn’t want to “scream his balls off again”, yet in Whitesnake he would once more let his voice climb higher and higher, totally outside his natural register. In effect, DC paid the price for demanding that his voice do things it was not made for – and if you look at his vocal time line then the misuse of his voice already began to have an impact on its quality only about ten years after he joined DP. Since then his vocal might has been in descent. (The last time I heard DC sing really really well live was around 1983/84.) Tragically so as the richness of his lower register was really something, but he chose to ruin that as well. In the last 30 years or so, IG has developed a more confident and warmer baritone (never one of his strengths in the 70s as a young man) than DC’s whose vocal cords limped along.
June 7th, 2026 at 15:32We never got that stripped down blues album or acoustic tour… a shame.
June 8th, 2026 at 11:59“And yes, I still prefer the voice of Ian, even now as a 80 yo – WOAH MAN he can sing… ☺️”
But didn’t DC sing wo(ah)man like in every second sentence too?
https://youtu.be/OOoGuOPTsI0
https://youtu.be/YIllOcB5zfU
https://youtu.be/-QcLPN64cr8
June 9th, 2026 at 14:48@18
Dear Uwe,
Yes indeed, David sang beautifully and with a lot of charisma 😄
And the first two songs you link to are actually my favourites among many others with Whitesnake.
I like ‘Woman trouble blues’ too!
BUT! What I meant was (and I have a distinct feeling you know this very well) David had big problems singing in the last years. Whereas Ian still sings so very very well 😊
June 9th, 2026 at 16:46I think the enormous vocal decay of DC from the early Whitesnake stuff to what he could still do on a later track like Woman Trouble Blues is shocking and cannot be explained with the mere reduction of tonal range due to age. Coverdale had severe vocal issues and they started more than 40 years ago. Sadly so.
Big Ian might be past the point where he can still credibly sing Highway Star, but I hear nothing like DC’s vocal rupture in his aged voice.
June 9th, 2026 at 22:25@20
Well, if i had anything to say, Ian should never sing Child in Time – ever again 🥺 at the recording of ‘Hell and High Water’, it was so sad.
Highway Star…. I really don’t think he has the strength anymore.
Actually, all the new songs, from =1 and so far what I’ve heard from Splat, are in his range, and he sings them beautifully 🥰
But the songs from his youth, well of course not all of them, but some of them are too demanding for his voice.
I’d rather hear him sing songs he can sing without any problems, than listen to him fighting his way through songs only meant for a younger voice.
And yes, I still adore his voice as it is now 😊
June 10th, 2026 at 09:40@ Singers
Both Ian and David, plus Ian Anderson and Klaus Meine, all had severe vocal issues in the 80’s.
Ian Anderson lost it all, sadly, both the range and that beautiful “choirboy” color he used to have.
Klaus was lucky to preserve the full rich tone and timbre from his voice and only gave up the really really high range of the 70’s albums. This in turn only played in his favor for massive FM appeal!
Ian G survived vocal surgery only to destroy his voice in Black Sabbath.
Years later, in Argentina and while having a cold, Ian told reporters that the cold would not affect him as he now used a technique of singing straight from the gut and not the throat for strength. No idea what he meant, though…
David preserved the tone of his voice only to destroy it by screaming like a little girl for “MTV success” (and boy, did it work)
Glenn did every possible abuse to his body and was also punched in the throat by a Black Sabbath roadie. Then in the 90’s cleaned and gave some of the most amazing vocal performances I have ever witnessed, so who knows!
Geddy Lee from Rush (Karin’s second favorite band after Duran Duran) has recovered, after an 11 year break, the brightness and tone of his voice, and wisely chose to modify the vocal melodies to avoid all high notes in order to accommodate his current range.
Brian Johnson, Robert Plant…all gone, sadly.
Sammy Hagar, still has the tone, but diminished range…
But man, all those guys gave their all to the fans over decades and decades on the road, so huge respect to them!
Regards, J.-
June 10th, 2026 at 13:50