WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale has told “The Rhino Podcast” that the band’s “Red, White And Blues” trilogy was originally timed to coincide with his planned farewell tour, which was supposed to kick off this year.
“What could be a better age for the lead singer of WHITESNAKE [to retire] than 69?” he said (hear audio below). “I’d even designed really terrible t-shirts to go with it. So the plan was to do literally an appreciation and gratitude [tour] for such an extraordinary support for five decades, and then maybe go into 2021.”
Earlier this year, WHITESNAKE was forced to cancel its U.S. tour with SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE and NIGHT RANGER so that Coverdale could undergo surgery for bilateral inguinal hernia. Eventually, all of the shows were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.
“My agents now are calling, trying to get me interested in spring, which I think is just literally… I don’t have a crystal ball,” David said. “I think the earliest we can look at, really — I don’t even know if it will be safe enough for people get in a large group and not have worries or concerns, even late ’21. I think we’re more [looking at] 2022. It’s very likely.
“It’s affecting every job — not just musicians and people affiliated with the music business,” he added. “This is affecting everyone.”
Coverdale, who turnd 69 in September, had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.
WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, “Flesh & Blood”, which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.
The “Red, White And Blues” trilogy is a series of fresh, new collections organized by musical themes that include “Love Songs” (red), “The Rock Album” (white) and “The Blues Album” (blue). “The Rock Album” came out in June, “Love Songs” was issued on November 6, and the third and final part of the triology, “The Blues Album”, will arrive next year.
