David Coverdale

David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer and songwriter best known as the founder and lead singer of hard rock band Whitesnake.

Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951 in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, near Redcar, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, son of Thomas Joseph Coverdale and Winnifred May (Roberts) Coverdale.

According to Coverdale, his maternal side and mother "were the singers", while paternal side "were the painters, the sketchers, the artists".

He got initiation 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.

From the beginning Coverdale showed singing talent and "discovered that he could project" and had a "gut voice".

Around the age of 14, he began performing professionally and developing his voice.

Coverdale started his career performing with local bands Vintage 67 (1966–68), The Government (1968–72), and Fabulosa Brothers (1972–73).

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, Coverdale was admitted into the band due to "his singing and songwriting talents", with new bassist Glenn Hughes also providing vocals with Coverdale.

He was also the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after which he released two solo studio albums White Snake and Northwinds before forming Whitesnake in 1978.

By 1973 he left art college and was successfully working as a "singing salesman", until he saw an article in a copy of Melody Maker, which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers to replace Ian Gillan.

"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".

In February 1974, Deep Purple released their first album with Coverdale and Hughes, titled Burn, which was certified Gold in the US on 20 March 1974, 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 why guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left the band in June 1975.

Rather than disbanding, Coverdale was instrumental in persuading the band to continue with American guitarist Tommy Bolin (of Billy Cobham and The James Gang fame).

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.'" The band released one studio album with Bolin, Come Taste the Band in 1975, 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."

After the demise of Deep Purple, Coverdale embarked on a solo career.

In a wake of punk movement he stayed true to his blues rock roots.

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.

As his first solo effort, Coverdale later admitted: "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."

Even though the album was not successful, its title inspired the name of Coverdale's future band.

In 1978, Coverdale released his second studio album Northwinds, in "blues- and R&B-influenced hard rock" style was received much better than the previous album, and in 2021 Classic Rock considered it as "a remarkably mature album that can still send shivers down the spine 30 years after it was recorded" and "antithesis of Whitesnake's super-slick 1987".

But before the album's release, he had already formed a new band.

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.

In 1991-1993, during a Whitesnake hiatus, he collaborated with ex-Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on the Coverdale–Page album, which was subsequently certified platinum.

In 1997 studio album Restless Heart was initially intended to be released as a solo album, but in the end was released under moniker 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.