WHITESNAKE and former DEEP PURPLE frontman David Coverdale has officially announced his retirement, bringing an end to a legendary career spanning more than five decades. The 74-year-old British rock icon shared the news in a heartfelt video message on his YouTube channel earlier today.
In the video, Coverdale addressed fans directly, saying (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters of the ‘SNAKE, a special announcement for you. After 50 years-plus of an incredible journey with you, with DEEP PURPLE, with WHITESNAKE, Jimmy Page, the last few years has been very evident to me that it’s time really for me to hang up my rock and roll platform shoes and my skintight jeans. And as you can see, we’ve taken care of the lion’s wig. But it’s time for me to call it a day.
Coverdale continued, expressing gratitude to everyone who has supported him throughout his career: “I love you dearly. I thank everyone who’s assisted and supported me on this incredible journey — all the musicians, the crew, the fans, the family. It’s amazing, but it really is time for me to just enjoy my retirement. And I hope you can appreciate that.”
He concluded the message with a warm farewell: “Once again, I love you with all my heart. Fare thee well.”
The decision follows a period of reflection on his health and performance capabilities. In October 2023, Coverdale spoke with SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” about the challenges he was facing and the future of WHITESNAKE: “Well, my band and I are in touch all the time. There is still a WHITESNAKE and there are still offers coming. I can’t entertain anything until I get my physical aspect together. I had a fall recently, which I don’t think helped my… I’ve got two torn rotator cuffs, which would certainly compromise my performance,” he revealed.
He also opened up about the impact of aging on his ability to perform at his best: “But arthritis, all this kind of stuff’s kicking in. My heart goes out to Steven [Tyler] after the [2023 AEROSMITH tour] cancelation. It’s so awful, getting older and having this burden of responsibility to try to be as good as you can so you don’t disappoint anybody. And I know how he feels and I sent my love to him through our friends, mutual friends. But I can’t commit to anything until I know how my health is. The last thing I wanna do is go on tour and have to do what happened last year, which was come home, tail between my legs. It was heartbreaking. And being sick for a year didn’t really help matters.”
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