Whitesnake

Blues-rock years

Whitesnake formed in London in 1978 as the backing band for David Coverdale, who left Deep Purple in March 1976 and had made two solo albums, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978). The original line-up was Coverdale, Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden on guitars, Neil Murray on bass, Dave Dowle on drums and Brian Johnston on keyboards, with Jon Lord, also of Deep Purple, joining late in the first album's recording. The first show was on March 3, 1978 at Lincoln Technical College, billed as David Coverdale's Whitesnake. The Snakebite EP reached 61 in the UK and they signed to EMI, then made Trouble (1978), Lovehunter (1979, UK 29), Ready an' Willing (1980, UK 6), the live Live... in the Heart of the City (1980, UK 5), Come an' Get It (1981, UK 2) and Saints and Sinners (1982, UK 9), all produced by Martin Birch.

In late 1981 Marsden, Murray and Ian Paice were dismissed amid a financial dispute with management, and Moody quit that December. They signed to Geffen in 1982 under John Kalodner to target the US, remixed Slide It In (1984) for America, where it reached 40, and made 1987 (called Whitesnake in the US), which sold over eight million copies in the US and gave them "Here I Go Again" at number one and "Is This Love" at two. Slip of the Tongue (1989) was a commercial disappointment next to it. Coverdale put the band on hold after Budokan in Tokyo on September 26, 1990.

Reformations

Coverdale made an album with Jimmy Page in 1993, Greatest Hits (1994) prompted a tour, and Restless Heart (1997) preceded a billed farewell. The band reformed in 2003 for its 25th anniversary with Tommy Aldridge, Doug Aldrich, Reb Beach, Marco Mendoza and Timothy Drury, and made Good to Be Bad (2008, UK 7), Forevermore (2011), The Purple Album (2015) and Flesh and Blood (May 10, 2019, UK 7). A farewell tour began in May 2022, and on November 13, 2025 Coverdale announced his retirement, ending the band. Bernie Marsden died in August 2023, aged 72. Martin Popoff's book Walking in the Shadow of the Blues: The Whitesnake Story takes its title from the song.