Whitesnake

Formed in late 1970s London around former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale, Whitesnake originally positioned itself as a hard rock band strongly colored by the blues, with soul influences from Coverdale’s early solo work. The lineup has varied over time, featuring guitarists such as Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, John Sykes and later Steve Vai and Doug Aldrich, while remaining centered on Coverdale’s voice and songwriting. Early albums like “Trouble” (1978) and “Lovehunter” (1979) were rooted in the contemporary British rock scene, before “Ready an’ Willing” (1980) and “Slide It In” (1984) consolidated a more driving style that combined bluesy riffs, melodic choruses and pronounced rhythm sections. With “Whitesnake” (1987), often referred to as “1987”, the band leaned into a hard rock/glam metal aesthetic, propelled by power ballads and slicker production, which established them on major international stages. “Slip of the Tongue” (1989) extended that direction; Whitesnake then receded somewhat before returning regularly to the studio and the road from the 2000s onward, notably with “Good to Be Bad” (2008) and “Flesh & Blood” (2019). Today Whitesnake sits at the crossroads of melodic hard rock, blues rock and accessible heavy metal, balancing reworkings of its catalogue, nods to Deep Purple and new compositions.