David Coverdale, the legendary frontman of Whitesnake, has just confirmed his plan to retire from touring in 2022, after some already scheduled concerts of band.
Coverdale spoke to Planet Rock’s Wyatt about his long-time career and said: “I’ve been very passionate about what I do. I try not to let my audience down. We’ve got a really loyal hardcore fanbase around the world. Last year, we were supposed to do what was gonna be my farewell tour, and it was sold out; it was amazing. Of course, everything was canceled due to COVID. So, God willing, I’ll be able to do it hopefully next year. I’m gonna show my appreciation and gratitude for the support that I’ve had, ’cause you can’t do it without an audience supporting you — it’s that simple. And they know — the hardcore [fans] who follow me know — I do my best, the best I can do at that time. And that’s been my work philosophy for as long as I can remember.” When Wyatt refered to other bands who didn’t finally retire after their “farewell” tours, Coverdale said: “Mine’s gonna be the farewell tour ’cause I’m knocking on 70. Are you kidding?! It’s hard enough now to get into my jeans.”
However, as written above, it will be a retirement from touring! The famous singer commented: “I’ll be still involved in music. We’ve got a relatively long-term deal with Warners. We have a poopload of projects to do under the Whitesnake banner. It’s just the touring. It’s not the performing so much that is exhausting, it’s the touring, and I can’t tour any more comfortably than I do. So I spoke to my agent and said, ‘I wanna do this [farewell tour] more than anything. It’s after 50 years of incredible support for me.’ Not to be able to say thank you to the U.K., not to be able to say thank you to Germany, to Japan, Brazil, it would be heartbreaking. I’m getting up there for this kind of stuff, and so it’s gonna have to be an easier tour schedule for me to be able to handle and recharge the batteries so I’m not hobbling around or doing wheelies in a chair”. And he concluded: “I play guitar every day. The moment I start playing, I come up with ideas for songs. It’s impossible for me not to [play music]. It’s like my hobby. It’s something that I’m supposed to do; otherwise, I think I wouldn’t receive all these amazing ideas for melodies and naughty lyrics, including ‘Slide It In‘, darling”.
