In a new interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, Dutch guitarist Adrian Vandenberg, who was a member of WHITESNAKE from 1987 to 1990, and again from 1994 to 1997, was asked if he was surprised last November when WHITESNAKE leader David Coverdale announced he was retiring, not just from music, but from social media and public life. Adrian responded: “I wasn’t really surprised he quit music. I was more surprised that he pulled back from social media, since he was on it all the time. That was the unexpected part.”
Adrian continued: “I haven’t talked to [David] in quite a while, but yeah, it makes sense he retired. So, he finally did it, and I think it’s a good thing. He joined DEEP PURPLE when he was 23 or 24. That was really young. So, he’s been doing it all his life, which is still great. I mean, there’s only one Coverdale, everybody knows that. So, on the one hand, it’s a pity. But at the same time, I see guys like [THE ROLLING STONES’] Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler from AEROSMITH, and some others who are still going strong. I don’t know how long they’ll go on, but I do know that Steven Tyler wants to go on until he drops. And he can still sing great. It’s amazing.”
Asked for his view of the legacy WHITESNAKE left behind, Adrian said: “Well, WHITESNAKE has become an institution, especially since [the] ‘1987’ [album], because, as you know, before that, WHITESNAKE was big predominantly in Europe and Japan. And then, with the ‘1987’ album, everything blew up and became more of a global thing. I think the ‘1987’ album, most people agree, was pivotal and the epitome of what the ’80s stood for. It was glamorous, featured phenomenal guitar work from John Sykes, of course, and tons of great songs. It was on MTV all the time. So, I think the legacy is, especially in my opinion, quality rock with great singing, great playing, which definitely wasn’t the case with most of those bands, because a lot of bands came in the slipstream of bands like WHITESNAKE, DEF LEPPARD, AEROSMITH, and then a whole bunch of those L.A. bands that had a guitar player who wanted to sound like Eddie Van Halen and a singer who was squealing like a pig in a slaughterhouse. So, it became very generic. But if you think back about the sound of the ’80s, I think it was a combination of… If I had to name five bands that left a lasting mark, in my opinion, it would be DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE, BON JOVI, AEROSMITH and GUNS N’ ROSES, of course. But that was more of a crossing point into the ’90s, I think. I mean, they took it in a more punkish direction, but they started out as a glam rock band. They had big hair and stuff in their early days, too.”
Earlier this year, Adrian continued celebrating his iconic years with WHITESNAKE during a special tour called “My Whitesnake Years”.
In 2025, it had been 35 years since WHITESNAKE toured the world with the “Slip Of The Tongue” album, and “My Whitesnake Years” is looking back on highlights such as the legendary WHITESNAKE “Live At Donington” 1990 show.
Vandenberg joined WHITESNAKE in 1987 and played the famous guitar solo on worldwide hit “Here I Go Again”. He also co-wrote the entire “Slip Of The Tongue” album and toured with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Before his WHITESNAKE years, Vandenberg made his international breakthrough with his own band VANDENBERG, known for the hit “Burning Heart”, and shared the stage with rock greats such as OZZY OSBOURNE, KISS and SCORPIONS. After his WHITESNAKE period, he launched the successful VANDENBERG’S MOONKINGS and made a successful comeback in 2020 with his renewed VANDENBERG band.
Vandenberg was a member of WHITESNAKE for 13 years at the height of the band’s fame. He was also part of supergroup MANIC EDEN, and more recently released a number of albums with the aforementioned VANDENBERG’S MOONKINGS.
Vandenberg’s namesake band released its comeback album, titled “2020”, in May 2020 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. A follow-up LP, “Sin”, arrived in August 2023. The group’s fifth full-length offering, “Sin”, was produced by Bob Marlette (OZZY OSBOURNE, ALICE COOPER, ROB ZOMBIE).
In a November 2024 interview with Alma Hard, Vandenberg was asked why he took a decade-and-a-half break from recording music prior to the 2014 release of the debut album from his band VANDENBERG’S MOONKINGS. He said: “Well, I stayed together with David up until 1998, because we did tour — we toured in 1994 and we toured in 1997, ’98. So, the end of 1998, David wanted to stop with everything because he wasn’t feeling well and he wanted to stop touring because he didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore. So, in 1999, I was with a girlfriend at the time and she got a baby. Or actually we got a baby, and she got pregnant and I thought, ‘That’s great. I wanna be there for that.’ Of course, I didn’t wanna tour and then record records because that’s a very important thing. But when the baby was three years old, the relationship fell apart, and we weren’t married. And it appeared to be a very difficult period. And I thought, ‘If I’m gonna record now and start a band and start touring, then I will be one of those fathers who sticks his head around the corner of the door and goes, ‘I’m your father, but I have to go.” So when that relationship went wrong, I wanted to be an important part in the life of my daughter. I thought, ‘You know what? I’m gonna live off my paintings for about 10, 11 years,’ which is what I did, ‘until she’s old enough that I can explain to her what I actually do and what I did before.’ So, when my daughter was about 11 or 12, she was old enough to explain and she thought it was really cool because there were kids at her school who go, ‘Oh, is that your dad? He’s famous and he’s got long hair’ and all that stuff. So before, until she was 11 or 12, for her it was totally normal that I played some guitar and there was painting and all that stuff. So, that’s when I started MOONKINGS. She must have been 12 or something. And I really missed playing and touring and doing shows and all that stuff, so I was happy to pick it up again. And I thought, ‘Well, the world will have forgotten about me, of course.’ That would have been totally normal, because that’s how it goes. Pop music is called pop music because people, when it started, with bands like THE BEATLES and pop artists and stuff in the ’60s, people thought, ‘Oh, you know, that’s the kind of music you throw away. It’s pop music, popular music. That’s music you forget after about a couple of months.’ But it’s never gone away, fortunately, because that’s why I didn’t go away either. I’m still here.”
Recalling his refusal to return to WHITESNAKE when Coverdale resurrected the band in 2002, Vandenberg told “White Line Fever” that the singer “wanted to stop altogether because he was kind of worn out on the road. He didn’t want to do it anymore… When he called me up and said he wanted to start it up again, I couldn’t do it because I had all kinds of obligations for exhibitions for my paintings. And those are always planned a year ahead, because art galleries reserve the space a year ahead because exhibitions usually last three to six months or something. I couldn’t do it.”