Formation, Snakebite and Trouble (1976–1978) In March 1976, singer
David Coverdale left the English hard rock group
Deep Purple; he had joined the band three years prior and recorded three successful albums with them. After leaving Deep Purple, Coverdale released his solo album
White Snake in February 1977. His second solo album
Northwinds was released in March 1978. Both combined elements of blues, soul and funk, as Coverdale had wanted to distance himself from the hard rock sound synonymous with Deep Purple. Both records featured former
Snafu guitarist
Micky Moody, whom Coverdale had known since the late 1960s. Moody was the first to join Coverdale's backing band, which he began assembling in London. As stated by Coverdale, "Whitesnake were actually formed to promote
Northwinds on a one-off promotional tour". Their live debut had originally been scheduled for 23 February at the Sky Bird Club in Nottingham, but the show was cancelled. In a 2009 interview with
Metro, Coverdale jokingly stated that the name "Whitesnake" was a euphemism for his penis. In fact, it came from the song of the same name found on his first solo album. After completing a small UK club tour, the band adjourned to a rehearsal place in London's West End to begin writing new songs. When
Snakebite reached number 61 on the UK Singles Chart, the band were duly signed to EMI proper. On 5 July 1978, the band, introduced as simply Whitesnake, performed at the
Paris Theatre for
BBC Radio 1's
In Concert programme alongside
The Only Ones. They then entered Central Recorders in London to begin work on their first full-length studio album with Martin Birch once again producing. The recording and mixing only took ten days. Towards the end of the sessions, Pete Solley's keyboard parts were completely replaced by Coverdale's former Deep Purple bandmate
Jon Lord, who agreed to join Whitesnake after much coaxing from Coverdale.
Colin Towns and
Tony Ashton had also been approached, having previously played with fellow Deep Purple offshoots the
Ian Gillan Band and Paice Ashton Lord, respectively. Whitesnake's debut album
Trouble was released in October 1978, In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia stated: "A few unexpected oddities throw the album off-balance here and there, [...] but all things considered, it is easy to understand why
Trouble turned out to be the first step in a long, and very successful career." The release of
Trouble was followed by an 18-date UK tour, beginning on 26 October 1978. The final show at the
Hammersmith Odeon in London was recorded and released in Japan as
Live at Hammersmith. According to Coverdale, this was done to appease Japanese promoters who allegedly refused to book Whitesnake without some kind of a live recording.
Lovehunter and ''Ready an' Willing'' (1979–1980) Whitesnake embarked on their first continental European tour on 9 February 1979 in Germany. In April, they began recording their second album at
Clearwell Castle in
Gloucestershire, where Coverdale had previously worked with Deep Purple. Martin Birch returned to produce and the band employed the
Rolling Stones Mobile Studio to record. Bernie Marsden later described the resulting record as a "transition album", where the band really began to "blossom" and find their footing. The album included the live staple "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues", which Coverdale felt "really summed up my musical approach of the time". Before the record's release, drummer Dave "Duck" Dowle was replaced by
Ian Paice, Coverdale and Lord's former Deep Purple bandmate. There is some contention as to the nature of Dowle's departure; Coverdale has maintained that Dowle's lacking performance on the album and unwillingness to "take constructive criticism" led to his firing. and it reached number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.
Sounds gave the record a positive review, The album's cover art, depicting a naked woman straddling a giant serpent, caused some controversy when the record was released. Whitesnake had already received criticism from the British music press for their alleged sexist lyrics. The cover art for
Lovehunter, done by artist
Chris Achilleos, was reportedly commissioned to "just piss [the critics] off even more". and it reached number six on the UK Albums Chart. It also became the band's first album to chart in the US, where it reached number 90 on the
Billboard 200 chart. Its success was helped by the lead single "
Fool for Your Loving", which reached number 13 and number 53 in the UK and the US, respectively.
Geoff Barton, writing for
Sounds, gave ''Ready an' Willing
a positive review, awarding it four stars out of five. Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden later named Ready an' Willing'' their favourite Whitesnake album. In the UK, the record was certified
gold by the
British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 100,000 copies. In support of ''Ready an' Willing'', Whitesnake toured the US for the first time supporting
Jethro Tull. Later that year, they supported
AC/DC in Europe. With the benefit of a hit single, Whitesnake's audience in the UK began to grow. It would later go
platinum with sales of over 300,000 copies. In North America, the album was released as a single record version, excluding the live material from 1978.
''Come an' Get It and Saints & Sinners'' (1981–1982) In early 1981, Whitesnake began recording their fourth studio album with producer Martin Birch at
Ringo Starr's
Startling Studios in Ascot, Berkshire. After the success of ''Ready an' Willing
and Live... in the Heart of the City
, Whitesnake were riding high with the atmosphere in the studio being described by Coverdale as "great" and "positive". The resulting record, Come an' Get It'', was released on 6 April 1981. Charting in seven countries, it gave the group their highest ever UK chart position at number two. That same year, the album was certified gold. The single "
Don't Break My Heart Again" also charted at number seventeen in the UK.
Circus magazine gave the album a positive review, which proclaimed: "[Whitesnake] has made its claim to rock history with ''Come an' Get It'', which even stands ahead of classic hard rock in the
Free mold." Coverdale later named the record his favorite album of the band's early years, stating: "Even though we had some great songs on each album, I don't feel that we came as close as we did on [''Come an' Get It''], as far as consistency is concerned." They also played the US in July, supporting
Judas Priest with
Iron Maiden. At the 1981
Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, Whitesnake were direct support for headliners AC/DC. The group accumulated six gold and silver certifications worldwide within one year, including Yugoslavia and Japan. In late 1981, Coverdale retreated to a small villa in southern Portugal to begin writing the band's next album. After returning to England, he and the rest of Whitesnake gathered at Nomis Studios in London to begin rehearsals. However, as Coverdale would later explain: "There wasn't that 'spark' that was usually in attendance. It felt more of an effort to be there." In an effort to lift their collective spirits, Whitesnake returned to
Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, where they had recorded
Lovehunter. Though morale still remained low, the band were able to record the basic tracks for their next album. Guy Bidmead replaced producer Martin Birch, who was reportedly too ill to work at the time (Birch did eventually return when recording moved to
Britannia Row). To make matters worse, the band were experiencing financial troubles with Moody recalling: "We weren't making nowhere near the kind of money we should have been making. Whitesnake always seemed to be in debt, and I thought 'What is this?, we're playing in some of the biggest places and we're still being told we're in debt, where is all the money going?'." According to Bernie Marsden, the band set up a meeting to fire Coletta, but Coverdale failed to show. Instead, Marsden, Neil Murray and Ian Paice were informed that Whitesnake had been put on hold and that they had been fired. This purportedly gave him the courage to cut ties with Coletta; Coverdale ended up buying himself out of his contracts, which reportedly cost him over a million dollars. In the UK, the record was certified silver. Chas de Whalley, writing for
Kerrang!, gave the album a lukewarm review. Save for two tracks ("
Crying in the Rain" and "
Here I Go Again"), he characterised the rest of the record as generally mediocre. Conversely, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, in a retrospective review, hailed
Saints & Sinners as Whitesnake's "best album yet". By the time
Saints & Sinners was released, Coverdale had signed a new recording contract with American label
Geffen Records, who would handle all future Whitesnake releases in North America. In Europe, the band remained with
Liberty (a subsidiary of EMI), while in Japan, they signed with
Sony. A&R executive
John Kalodner, who had been a long-time fan of Coverdale's, convinced
David Geffen to sign the group. Meeting Geffen and Kalodner had a major impact on Coverdale and his future vision for Whitesnake. He explained: "I'd been surrounded by a mentality if you make five pounds profit let's go to the pub. Whereas David Geffen said to me 'If you can make five dollars profit, why not 50? If 50, why not 500? Why not 50,000, why not five million?'" Coverdale soon set his sights on breaking through in North America with Kalodner advising him.
Slide It In (1983–1984) festival, which they headlined Whitesnake toured across Europe and Japan in early 1983, At this time, Coverdale began steering Whitesnake's music more towards hard rock, which was emphasised by the additions of Mel Galley and Cozy Powell, whose past projects included
Trapeze and
Rainbow, respectively. Majority of Whitesnake's next album was co-written by Coverdale and Galley, while Micky Moody contributed to only one song. Whitesnake began recording their sixth album at
Musicland Studios in Munich with producer
Eddie Kramer, who had come recommended by John Kalodner. As Whitesnake finished up a European tour in October 1983, Micky Moody left the group. He later attributed his departure to a growing dissatisfaction working in the band, particularly with Coverdale: "Me and David weren't friends and co-writers anymore. [...] David was a guy who five, six years earlier was my best friend. Now he acted as if I wasn't there." As Moody explained: "I never wanted to be a great big star. [...] I found it difficult to be a rock star, I really did." With the line-up changes and troubled production of the album, both the record and its accompanying tour were delayed until early 1984. joined Whitesnake in 1984 after Coverdale was convinced the band needed a "guitar hero" to reach their full potential According to Coverdale, John Kalodner had convinced him that in order for the band to achieve their full potential, they needed a "guitar hero" that could match Coverdale as a frontman. Therefore, Coverdale initially looked to
Michael Schenker and
Adrian Vandenberg to replace Moody. Schenker claims he turned down the offer to join Whitesnake, while Coverdale insists he decided to pass on Schenker. Vandenberg declined the offer to join as well due to the success he was having with his
own band at the time. Coverdale then approached
Thin Lizzy guitarist
John Sykes, whom he had met when Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy played some of the same festivals in Europe. Sykes was initially reluctant to join, wanting instead to continue working with Thin Lizzy frontman
Phil Lynott, but after several more offers and Lynott's blessing he accepted. John Sykes and Neil Murray were officially confirmed as members of Whitesnake in January 1984.
Slide It In, Whitesnake's sixth studio album, was released on 30 January 1984. On the UK Albums Chart, it reached number nine. The album's highest chart position was in Finland, where it reached number four.
Slide It In received mixed reviews from critics with the production being a common complaint. Dave Dickson, writing for
Kerrang!, called the record "the best thing Whitesnake have yet committed to vinyl", while
Record Mirrors Jim Reid was highly critical of the lyrical content.
AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, in a retrospective review, called
Slide It In "an even greater triumph" than the band's previous works, whereas
Garry Bushell of
Sounds gave the album a particularly scathing review, in which he likened Coverdale's voice to that of a "dying dog". During a tour stop in Germany, Mel Galley broke his arm leaping on top of a parked car. He sustained nerve damage, leaving him unable to play guitar. As a result, Galley was forced to leave Whitesnake. By April 1984, a reunion of Deep Purple's Mark II line-up had become imminent, which led to Jon Lord also leaving. He played his final show with Whitesnake on 16 April 1984. Kalodner had been unimpressed by Martin Birch's work on the album and had demanded a complete remix for the American market. Though initially reluctant, Coverdale agreed after a trip to Geffen's offices in Los Angeles, where he came to the conclusion that Whitesnake's studio approach had become "dated" by American standards.
Keith Olsen was brought on board to remix
Slide It In, while John Sykes and Neil Murray were tasked with re-recording Micky Moody and Colin Hodgkinson's parts, respectively. The remixed version of
Slide It In reached number 40 on the
Billboard 200 chart. By 1986, the album had sold over 500,000 copies in the US. Critical reception was also positive, with Pete Bishop of
The Pittsburg Press calling the album "muscular, melodic and musical all together". With the band now left as a four-piece (with Richard Bailey providing keyboards off-stage), Whitesnake supported
Dio for several shows in the US, after which they toured Japan as a part of the
Super Rock '84 festival. Later that year, Whitesnake embarked on a six-week North American tour supporting
Quiet Riot. To further the band's reach in America, Whitesnake shot two music videos for the singles "
Slow an' Easy" and "
Love Ain't No Stranger", respectively. Both songs reached the
Top Tracks chart in the US. Focused on breaking through in America, Coverdale also relocated to the US.
1987 (1985–1988) The supporting tour for
Slide It In came to an end in January 1985 when Whitesnake played two shows at the
Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. After the tour ended, Cozy Powell parted ways with the band. According to Coverdale, his relationship with Powell had deteriorated increasingly over the course of the tour. After the final show, Coverdale flew to Los Angeles to inform Geffen Records he was letting the rest of the band go. Coverdale was persuaded to keep Sykes involved (as Geffen felt they formed a "strong image together") and ultimately changed his mind about Murray. Powell, meanwhile, was fired. According to Murray, Powell's departure was the result of financial disputes. Coverdale would later state that Powell didn't feel like the offer he got for his involvement was "appropriate". Coverdale and Sykes retreated to the South of France in early 1985 to begin writing the band's next album. The sessions proved fruitful and they were later joined by Murray, who helped with the arrangements. John Kalodner also convinced Coverdale to re-record two songs from the
Saints & Sinners album, "Here I Go Again" and "Crying in the Rain", which he thought had great potential with better production and arranging. With new material ready, the band then began searching for a new drummer. A reported sixty drummers auditioned for the group, with prolific session drummer
Aynsley Dunbar eventually being chosen. Former
Ozzy Osbourne drummer
Tommy Aldridge was also offered the spot, but an equally satisfactory agreement couldn't be reached. After recovering from surgery, Coverdale, by his own account, did develop a "mental block" that prevented him from singing. Following some failed sessions with
Ron Nevison, Coverdale was finally able to record his vocals with producer Keith Olsen. Coverdale has claimed that Sykes and Mike Stone were fired after they began conspiring against him by booking studio time and making decisions without his involvement. Sykes has denied this, instead claiming that he and the other members were systematically fired as soon as they finished recording their parts. inspired look With the help of John Kalodner, Coverdale recruited Adrian Vandenberg and Tommy Aldridge, as well as guitarist
Vivian Campbell (formerly of Dio) and bassist
Rudy Sarzo (formerly of Quiet Riot) to the band. This new line-up would appear in all the promotional materials for the forthcoming album. Whitesnake also adopted a new image, akin to
glam metal bands of the time, in order to appeal more to American audiences. When asked about the band's makeover, Coverdale stated: "I'm competing with people like
Jon Bon Jovi. I've gotta look the part."
1987 (titled
Whitesnake in United States and
Serpens Albus in Japan) was released on 16 March 1987 in North America and 30 March in Europe. It peaked at number eight in the UK, while in the US it reached number two on the
Billboard 200 chart. In total, the record charted in 14 countries and quickly became the most commercially successful of the band's career, selling over eight million copies in the US alone. In the UK, both reached number nine. The record's success was helped by the heavy airplay Whitesnake received on
MTV, courtesy of a trilogy of music videos featuring actress
Tawny Kitaen, Coverdale's future wife. The new Whitesnake line-up made their live debut at the
Texxas Jam festival in June 1987. Whitesnake embarked on a headlining arena tour, which was temporarily interrupted in April 1988, when Coverdale had a herniated disc removed from his lower back. At the
1988 Brit Awards, the band were nominated for Best British Group, while the album
1987 was nominated for
Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the
American Music Awards. When the supporting tour for
1987 ended in August 1988, Coverdale informed the rest of the band that the next album would be written by him and Adrian Vandenberg, who had established a fruitful working relationship together. In December 1988, Vivian Campbell parted ways with the band; the official reason given was "musical differences". However, Campbell later revealed that his departure was partially due to a falling out between his wife and Tawny Kitaen. This resulted in Campbell's wife being barred from the band's tour. In addition, Vandenberg had made it known that he wanted to be the sole guitarist in Whitesnake, which also played into Campbell's departure.
Bruce Fairbairn was initially chosen to produce, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. The band then hired both Keith Olsen and
Mike Clink to produce the record. Coverdale later explained the decision to hire two producers, citing pressure to follow up the band's previous record: "I brought them both in... Just that decision alone tells me I was in fear of failing..." During the recording process, Adrian Vandenberg sustained an injury to his wrists while performing some playing exercises. Despite consulting a doctor and significant rest, the injury persisted, leaving Vandenberg unable to play the guitar properly. Ultimately, Coverdale was forced to find another guitar player to finish the record. Vandenberg, meanwhile, was given time to recuperate while Vai recorded the album. Coverdale had been reluctant to re-record the song, let alone release it as the first single, but Geffen Records hoped to repeat the success of "Here I Go Again" with another older track. Coverdale later admitted to regretting the decision. "Fool for Your Loving" only peaked at number 37 on the
Billboard Hot 100. It fared better on the
Album Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at number two. The second single "The Deeper the Love" also stalled at number 28 on the Hot 100, while on the Album Rock Tracks chart it reached number four. festival, 1990
Slip of the Tongue was released on 7 November 1989 in the US, followed by a worldwide release on 13 November. It reached number ten on the UK Albums Chart as well as the
Billboard 200. The record also charted in twelve additional countries.
Slip of the Tongue was certified platinum in the US and had sold approximately four million copies worldwide by August 1990. The combination of Whitesnake and Steve Vai was also met with some criticism, with Thom Jurek, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, describing the pairing as "questionable". Coverdale himself would later admit to having mixed feelings about the record, though he has since learned to enjoy and accept it as a part of Whitesnake's catalogue. The final tour date was on 26 September 1990 at the
Budokan in Tokyo. Coupled with his ongoing divorce from Tawny Kitaen, Coverdale wanted to "take stock and review" to see if he still wanted to continue in the music business.
Greatest Hits and Restless Heart (1994–1997) On 4 July 1994, EMI released ''
Whitesnake's Greatest Hits'' in Europe. In the US, it was released on 19 July by Geffen Records. The record proved to be a success, reaching number four on the UK Albums Chart. It would later be certified gold in the UK and platinum in the US. Prior to the record's release, Coverdale had been planning a European solo tour with a backing band he likened to
Joe Cocker's
Mad Dogs & Englishmen. Adrian Vandenberg agreed to rejoin Whitesnake as he and Coverdale were already working on new music together. Vandenberg asked Rudy Sarzo to rejoin as well as they were both still playing in Manic Eden at the time. Sarzo accepted and recommended
Ratt guitarist
Warren DeMartini to the band. The line-up was then rounded out by keyboardist
Paul Mirkovich and drummer
Denny Carmassi, the latter of whom had played on the
Coverdale–Page album. The tour began in Europe on 20 June 1994, followed by several UK dates beginning in July. In October, the band toured in Japan and Australia. After completing the
Greatest Hits tour, Whitesnake were dropped by Geffen Records. Coverdale then resumed writing with Adrian Vandenberg on what was to be a solo album. Joining them in the studio were Denny Carmassi, as well as bassist
Guy Pratt and keyboardist
Brett Tuggle. As the record was being finished, the new higher-ups at EMI demanded it be released under the Whitesnake moniker. Coverdale objected, as he felt the record was stylistically too different from the band. Eventually a compromise was reached, and Coverdale agreed to release the album under the name "David Coverdale & Whitesnake". As a result of the name change, the guitars and drums on the album were brought up in the mix, something Coverdale later expressed disappointment over. followed by a European release on 26 May. The record only reached number 34 on the UK Albums Chart, but peaked at number three on
UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. It charted in nine additional countries as well, with its highest chart position being in Sweden at number five. The single "Too Many Tears" only reached number 46 on the UK Singles Chart, but on the
UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart it reached number five and charted for 34 weeks.
Restless Heart didn't receive a US release, being available only as an
import.
Rock Hard called the album "nice, but harmless", and ultimately deemed it "a mean disappointment" as potentially the last Whitesnake album. Jerry Ewing, writing for
Classic Rock, described it as a "curio" in the band's discography, falling somewhere between a Whitesnake album and a David Coverdale solo record. The supporting tour for
Restless Heart was billed as Whitesnake's
farewell tour, as Coverdale wanted to explore other musical avenues. Before the start of the tour, Coverdale and Vandenberg played several acoustic shows in Europe and Japan. One of these shows was later released as the live album
Starkers in Tokyo. After the band's disbandment, Coverdale resumed his solo career, releasing the album
Into the Light in 2000.
Reformation and Good to Be Bad (2003–2009) festival during the band's 25th anniversary tour In October 2002, David Coverdale announced plans to reform Whitesnake to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary in 2003. The new line-up was confirmed in December; Coverdale would be joined by drummer Tommy Aldridge, guitarists
Doug Aldrich and
Reb Beach, as well as bassist
Marco Mendoza and keyboardist
Timothy Drury. Talks had taken place between Coverdale and John Sykes about a possible reunion, but Coverdale ultimately felt that they had been their "own bosses" too long for a reunion to work. On 29 January 2003, Whitesnake began a co-headlining tour of the US with the
Scorpions. Afterwards, the band toured across Europe, playing several shows with
Gary Moore in the UK. Whitesnake then returned to the US to take part in the
Rock Never Stops Tour with
Warrant,
Kip Winger and
Slaughter, before embarking on a Japanese tour in September. The reformation was initially planned to last only a few months, but Coverdale ultimately decided to keep the band active. Whitesnake continued to tour in late 2004, playing several shows across Europe and the UK. Their London concert at the
Hammersmith Apollo in October was also filmed and in 2006 released as
Live... In the Still of the Night. It was later certified gold in the UK and received the award for "DVD of the Year" at the 2006
Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In April 2005, Whitesnake parted ways with Marco Mendoza due to scheduling conflicts with Mendoza's other projects. Session musician
Uriah Duffy was announced as his replacement the following month. Whitesnake then embarked on another US tour, followed by a South American leg. In May 2006, the band played several shows in Japan, which were then followed by festival dates in Europe. served as Coverdale's writing and producing partner on the albums
Good to be Bad (2008) and
Forevermore (2011) In August 2006, Whitesnake signed a European recording contract with
Steamhammer/SPV. The band then released the live album
Live... in the Shadow of the Blues, which contained four new songs written by Coverdale and guitarist Doug Aldrich. Coverdale's change of heart regarding new music stemmed from a need for "new meat to bite into" in order keep touring interesting. A release date was originally set for summer 2007, but the album was later pushed back to October 2007 and then May 2008. Regarding the delays, Coverdale stated: "The recording of this album was constantly compromised by interruptions. [...] Also, to be honest, there was no real rush for us to finish the project quickly." In December 2007, Chris Frazier was announced as Whitesnake's new drummer. Tommy Aldridge reportedly left to pursue other musical projects.
Good to Be Bad, Whitesnake's tenth studio album, was released on 18 April 2008 in Germany, 21 April in the rest of Europe, and on 22 April in North America. Produced by Coverdale, Aldrich and Michael McIntyre, the record reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. In the US, it only reached number 62 on the
Billboard 200, but it did peak at number eight on the
Top Independent Albums chart. In total,
Good to Be Bad charted in 19 countries and has sold over 700,000 copies worldwide by 2011. Writing for
IGN, Jim Kaz gave the album a favourable review, in which he stated: "A few faux-pa's aside
Good to Be Bad has enough shining, mega-rock moments to endear itself to fans old and new." It later received the
Classic Rock Award for "Album of the Year".
Good to Be Bads release was preceded by several shows in
Australia and
New Zealand, after which Whitesnake toured South America, followed by a UK co-headlining tour with
Def Leppard. They also played select shows together in Central Europe. In October, Whitesnake teamed up with Def Leppard again for two co-headlining shows in Japan. The following November, Whitesnake played several shows in Germany with
Alice Cooper. The band also performed in
Israel and
Cyprus. Following several European festival dates, Whitesnake embarked on a US co-headlining tour with Judas Priest in July 2009. On 11 August, however, Whitesnake were forced to cut their concert in Denver short, after Coverdale experienced severe pain in his vocal cords. After consulting a specialist, he was revealed to be suffering from severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion. As a result, Whitesnake canceled their remaining tour dates.
Forevermore and The Purple Album (2010–2017) The band took a break from touring in 2010 to concentrate on writing a new album. They also signed a new recording contract with
Frontiers Records. In June, Uriah Duffy and Chris Frazier left Whitesnake, with latter being replaced by former
Billy Idol and
Foreigner drummer
Brian Tichy. Michael Devin, formerly of
Lynch Mob, was revealed as the band's new bassist the following August. In September, Timothy Drury announced his departure to pursue a solo career.
Forevermore, Whitesnake's eleventh studio album, was released on 25 March 2011 in Europe, followed by a North American release on 29 March. Once again produced by Coverdale, Aldrich and Michael McIntyre at Lake Tahoe,
Forevermore reached number 33 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 2 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. It reached number 49 on the
Billboard 200, while on the Independent Albums chart it peaked at number ten. The record's highest chart position was in Sweden at number six. As of May 2015,
Forevermore has sold 44,000 copies in the US. Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, in which he proclaimed: "
Forevermore, despite its tighter arrangements and more polished production is Whitesnake at its Brit hard rock best." A supporting tour kicked off in New York on 11 May 2011. Accompanying the band was keyboardist Brian Ruedy. After several dates in the US, the tour continued across Europe. During the band's performance at the
Sweden Rock Festival, they were joined onstage by former guitarist Bernie Marsden. In October, Whitesnake played the
Loud Park festival in Japan. During the tour, the band sold charity scarves as a
humanitarian response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. became Whitesnake's longest serving member after Coverdale Whitesnake took another hiatus in 2012 to compile live recordings from the
Forevermore tour, which were released the following year as
Made in Japan and
Made in Britain/The World Record. In January 2013, Brian Tichy announced his departure from Whitesnake, in order to concentrate on his other band S.U.N. He was replaced by Tommy Aldridge, who rejoined the band for a second time. That May, Whitesnake initially toured in Japan, and then embarked on a UK co-headlining tour with
Journey, followed by several dates in Europe. During the band's performance in Manchester, they were once again joined onstage by Bernie Marsden. In June, Whitesnake played several co-headlining dates with Def Leppard in Spain. Following a North American tour, Whitesnake played Brazil at the Monsters of Rock festival in October. In May 2014, Doug Aldrich announced his departure from the band. He later explained his decision to leave, citing a need for a more flexible schedule to work on other projects and spend more time with his son.
Night Ranger guitarist
Joel Hoekstra was announced as his replacement the following August. Whitesnake released their twelfth studio album, titled
The Purple Album, on 15 May 2015 in Europe, followed by a North American release on 19 May. A collection of re-recorded songs from Coverdale's time in Deep Purple, the idea sprang from talks he and Jon Lord had had about a possible Mark III reunion a few years earlier. After Lord's death in 2012, Coverdale discussed the idea with guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, but they were unable to come to an agreement regarding the nature of the undertaking. Coverdale then decided to move forward with the project under the Whitesnake banner. He described the resulting record as a tribute to his time in Deep Purple.
The Purple Album reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart, while in the US it peaked at number 87. On the Independent Albums chart, it reached number nine, while in Japan it reached number eight. In its first week, the record sold 6,900 copies in the US. While the
Associated Press commended the band for breathing new life into the songs, Dave Everley of
Classic Rock called
The Purple Album a "wrong-headed travesty of an album". Responding to the criticism, Coverdale proclaimed: "I've no space in my life for haters or negaters. [...] I owe those people nothing. Such opinions mean nothing to me."
The Purple Album had been envisioned by Coverdale as potentially his last album before retiring. However, the process left him "revitalised" and eager to continue further. , 2016 Whitesnake kicked off the North American leg of The Purple Tour in May 2015. At a show in California, they were joined onstage by Coverdale's former Deep Purple bandmate
Glenn Hughes. Beginning in October, the band toured in Japan. In December, Whitesnake teamed up with Def Leppard for tour of the UK and Ireland. In Sheffield, Whitesnake were joined onstage by former guitarist Vivian Campbell (who has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992). In 2016, Whitesnake embarked on the Greatest Hits Tour, which saw them perform across Europe and the US. Before the tour, Coverdale revealed his plans to potentially retire in 2017, though he later recanted the statement. In August 2017, Whitesnake signed a new distribution deal for North America and Japan with
Rhino Entertainment and
Warner Music Group. Tentative plans to release a new album the following year were also announced. In October 2017, Whitesnake's eponymous album was reissued as a four-disc box set to commemorate its 30th anniversary. The band had planned a joint tour where they would have played the album in its entirety, but instead opted to take a break and focus on writing a new album. In December, a photography book chronicling The Purple Tour was released.
Flesh & Blood (2018–2019) In 2018, Whitesnake toured the US with Foreigner on the Juke Box Heroes Tour. They also released
The Purple Tour live album and the box set
Unzipped, which featured various acoustic recordings from across the band's career. Whitesnake's thirteenth studio album had originally been set for release in early 2018, but was pushed back after Coverdale contracted
H3 flu. In April 2018, the record was delayed again to early 2019 due to unspecified "technical issues" during the mixing process. However, he later reiterated his plans not to retire, stating that he feels "reinvigorated, energised and very inspired". , 2019 Whitesnake's final studio album
Flesh & Blood was released on 10 May 2019. It saw Coverdale compose with Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra for the first time, while production was handled by all three of them along with Michael McIntyre.
Flesh & Blood charted in eighteen countries, reaching number seven and number 131 in the UK and the US, respectively. It also topped the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart, and hit number five on the Independent Albums chart. Philip Wilding, writing for
Classic Rock, gave the record a positive review, in which he stated: "If you want something to listen to while driving with the top down in some steamy Californian clime, then this Whitesnake is hard to beat."
Slide It In and
Slip of the Tongue also saw expanded reissues in March and October, respectively. The band embarked on a supporting tour for
Flesh & Blood in April with dates in North America, followed by a European tour over the summer. In September, Coverdale once again discussed the possibility of retiring, potentially in 2021, though he later clarified: "I just thought it was amusing to say, 'Oh, what better age for the lead singer of Whitesnake [to retire] than 69? I can't wait to design the t-shirts.' That was just fun." Whitesnake were scheduled to tour Australia and New Zealand with the Scorpions in February 2020, but many of the shows had to be cancelled after Scorpions vocalist
Klaus Meine was diagnosed with kidney stones. Whitesnake's Japanese tour in March was also postponed due to the then-burgeoning
COVID-19 pandemic. Whitesnake later canceled all their remaining tour dates for 2020 when Coverdale was diagnosed with a
bilateral inguinal hernia, for which he was forced to undergo surgery.
Farewell tour and Coverdale's retirement (2020–2025) Between 2020 and 2021, Whitesnake released three musically distinct compilation albums, collectively titled the
Red, White and Blues trilogy. All three albums reached at least number two on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. The collections were originally timed to coincide with a potential farewell tour, which had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Coverdale later reaffirmed his plan to retire from touring potentially in 2022, citing his age and the stress of travel as contributing factors. However, he still intended to be involved in music with several Whitesnake projects in the works. Coverdale also discussed the possibility of Whitesnake continuing to perform without him. (left) and Tanya O'Callaghan (right) performing in 2022. The latter joined Whitesnake the year prior, becoming the first female musician in the band In July 2021, Whitesnake announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist
Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a
septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the group. On 14 January 2022, it was announced that
Round Hill Music had acquired the music publishing, master rights and master rights royalties for the majority of Coverdale's catalogue. The deal, estimated to be worth $35 million according to
Billboard, also encompasses the three albums Coverdale recorded with Deep Purple. Whitesnake began their farewell tour in May 2022, starting in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and
Europe. During Whitesnake's June performance at
Hellfest, they were joined onstage by Steve Vai. Later that month, the band were forced to cancel several shows after Tommy Aldridge fell ill and Coverdale was diagnosed with an infection of the sinus and trachea. Reb Beach had previously missed a number of shows due to poor health as well. On 1 July, Whitesnake cancelled the remainder of their European tour. On 5 August, the band withdrew from their forthcoming North American tour with the Scorpions. O'Callaghan stated in October that Coverdale still needed "a good few months" to recuperate. However, he had resumed writing and discussed the possibility of doing a farewell album, encouraging former members to participate as well. In 2023, Coverdale expressed interest in continuing the band's farewell tour in the future, but stated that his physical health would be the determining factor. Since the cancellation of Whitesnake's farewell tour, Coverdale continued to oversee re-releases of Whitesnake's back catalogue, with reissues of
Restless Heart,
Greatest Hits,
Good to Be Bad, and
The Purple Album already released in 2021–2023. In 2024, Rhino released a collection of Coverdale's solo albums, titled
Into the Light: The Solo Albums, under the Whitesnake moniker, with Coverdale retroactively incorporating them into the Whitesnake catalogue. April 2025 saw the release of
Access All Areas: Live, a collection of the group's previously released live albums dating from 2004 to 2018.
Forevermore was also reissued in September. On 13 November 2025, Coverdale announced his retirement, effectively putting an end to Whitesnake. Around the same time in January 2026, the majority of the Whitesnake's RHINO catalogue has been quietly reverted back to
Universal and
Craft Recordings. == Style and influences ==