Born on September 22, 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland, England; son of a steel worker; married Tawny Kittaen, late 1980s; divorced; married Cindy Barker, 1998; children: Jasper, Jessica. Addresses: Record company--Dragonshead Records, P.O. Box 8803, Incline Village, NV, 89452. Website--David Coverdale Official Website: http://www.davidcoverdale.com.
David Coverdale is a successful singer and songwriter who has sold more than 40 million albums over the course of his career. The bluesy rock vocalist has been a fixture in the recording industry since the early 1970s, first as a member of the supergroup Deep Purple, and later as the founder of Whitesnake. Performing with legendary musicians such as Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Tommy Aldridge, and Jon Lord, and raising his infant blues-rock band to heavy-metal stardom, Coverdale has firmly established himself as a notable force in the world of hard rock.
Coverdale was born on September 22, 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland, England. His love for music developed early. Even as a toddler, he was singing along to records. Around the age of 14, the aspiring singer began performing professionally and developing the voice which made him famous. "I don't think my voice had broken," he explained to Sounds magazine in 1974. "And that's when I first learnt how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's totally different from a normal voice." Coverdale continued to work on his craft until he witnessed legendary soul musician Ray Charles perform "Yesterday" one afternoon while watching Alan Freeman's Pick of the Pops. The experience moved him to tears. "I'd heard the Beatles version but this had the hairs standing on my neck. I thought it must be good to have a voice like that and that sort of feel. I started thinking 'I'm a person, I can feel ... why can't I emphasize it in what I'm doing.' That's when I started borrowing records and started listening to more than The Pretty Things ... going beyond the R&B thing," Coverdale told Sounds. He continued to develop his talent as well as his interest in soul, playing mainly with local bands such as The Fabuloso Brothers.
At the age of 22, while working at a local boutique, Coverdale spotted an article in British music publication Melody Maker. There was a picture of keyboardist Jon Lord accompanied by a significant line in the text: "Deep Purple still looking for vocalist--considering unknown." Coverdale wanted the opportunity to audition. He contacted several influential people from the local music scene in an attempt to try to reach Deep Purple. Unfortunately, his efforts proved fruitless. Still determined, he proceeded to ask friend Roger Barker, manager of the Redcar jazz club, to intervene. Barker, as with many of Coverdale's friends, had confidence in the singer's ability, but initially felt that he was setting his sights too high. Regardless, the club owner pulled the right strings, and after sending in a tape, Coverdale landed the audition and ultimately got the position as new lead singer for one of the world's biggest rock bands.
Comprised of a powerhouse of accomplished musicians, Deep Purple enjoyed a soaring wave of success with their early 1970s albums and hit singles, including the classic "Smoke on the Water," from the record Machine Head. Despite their rising popularity, tension was apparent between Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillian, two of the group's principal members. In 1973, Gillian left the group and Coverdale became the new lead singer for Deep Purple. The ambitious vocalist proved to be a worthy successor, collectively moving the band in a different direction. Though, as Coverdale pointed out in Sounds, "I never considered myself to be a replacement, it was a new thing. As far as they were concerned it was a new band. They just had a reputation to live up to and an excellent one at that." The group's next record, Burn, became a top ten hit. Coverdale stayed with Deep Purple for the next three years and released two additional albums, Stormbringer and Come Taste the Band. In 1976, after a particularly disastrous tour, Coverdale left the group because he was unhappy with personal conflicts and musical direction within Deep Purple. Shortly thereafter, the group broke up.
Following his departure, Coverdale relocated himself and his family to West Germany where he began writing music for his first solo effort entitled Whitesnake. The record was issued in a reptile sleeve and contained a strong collection of rock ballads. However, London was in the midst of a punk explosion and the album failed to break any ground. In 1978 Coverdale returned to the United Kingdom and assembled a band to support his second record, Northwinds, recruiting the same session players he used to record his debut solo album. The group, which included Mickey Moody, Bernie Marsden, Brian Johnston and Dick Dowles, debuted in February of 1978 as David Coverdale's Whitesnake. A blues-based EP, Snakebite, followed several months later, ambitiously highlighting the Bobby Bland soul classic, "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City." The song soon became a constant in the band's repertoire.
Whitesnake was a soulful hard rock group that had slightly provocative lyrical content laid over heavy-handed rock tracks and ballads. The band was a source of amusement and controversy for the British press. While journalists were often impressed with the group's obvious talents, many had a problem with Coverdale's racy lyrics, though, as writer Carol Clerk explained in a 1984 issue of Melody Maker: "There's a humor about Whitesnake, a tendency to take an idea, an element of truth or a simple observation and exaggerate it to such over-the-top proportions that it's pointless, really, to take offense."
The Snakebite EP proceeded to make the United Kingdom top 100 and the band went though various lineup changes. Several moderately successful albums followed, including Trouble, Live at Hammersmithand Lovehunter. The band had its first legitimate hit with "Fool for Your Loving" from the 1980 release, Ready an' Willing. The song climbed gingerly up the American charts, reaching number 53 and finally initiated American interest. Thereafter, Whitesnake crossed the Atlantic and served as an opening act for megagroups AC/DC and Jethro Tull. As legitimate stars in Europe, this was a large departure from their normal concert experience. The group was accustomed to taking American celebrities such as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Squier, and ZZ Top as openers for their shows. Whitesnake's next three records, Live in the Heart of the City, Come An' Get It and Saints & Sinners all made the British top ten (Come An' Get It made the American top 200). In 1982 and 1983, the group cemented their hard rock star position as headliners for the infamous Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donnington in England.
Source: http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003036/David-Coverdale.html
