Last week David Coverdale made the announcement that many of us knew was coming – he has retired from music. He posted a short video with the announcement as well as a remixed version of the song Fare Thee Well, from Whitesnake’s 2011 album Forevermore.

David did not offer up a long-winded list of reasons for stepping away, nor did he need to. He has been visited with several health issues over the years which prevented Whitesnake from offering a proper farewell tour. The band’s final show wound up being a performance at France’s Hellfest in 2022, a show that featured a guest shot from former guitarist Steve Vai on the final song.

The writing was on the wall for this retirement for several years now, but does cap the end of a five decade career in rock. Coverdale played in UK bands for a few years before landing with Deep Purple for three albums in the mid-70’s. He would then embark on a solo venture after Purple disbanded. His solo efforts would morph into the band Whitesnake, which became Coverdale’s main vehicle for the remainder of his career. He also had a well-received collaboration with Jimmy Page in the early ’90’s.

I personally came into Whitesnake in their rising heyday in the mid-80’s. Slide It In had stuff in rotation in my area, which had a prominent rock station. Then in 1987 the self-titled album blew up and Whitesnake was off to the races. I would then backtrack to the earlier blues-based Whitesnake and the Deep Purple albums. I never got to see them live but I’ve been along for the ride with the albums over the years and I have really enjoyed the 2000’s Whitesnake output.

We do often joke about musician retirements because of, well, the mountain of evidence that retirements aren’t often worth the paper they’re printed on. But in David’s case this one is likely rock solid. He is sadly not up to the rigors of performing his music at 74 years old and with a host of health issues he has faced over the years. It is unfortunate that Whitesnake didn’t get to go out with a final tour or even a planned final show, but Coverdale still gets to bow out and enjoy his years. He has remained active with Whitesnake’s back catalog reissues so I’m sure more is coming from that and hopefully the Covedale-Page album gets its much-needed revisit at some point.

The curtain call has arrived for David Coverdale, but there is a half-century’s worth of great rock music to look back on and celebrate. And with any luck, David will be in a position to look back along with us and share more insights on his illustrious career.