Former DEEP PURPLE and current WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale says that he is contemplating retiring in 2017 on the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the best-selling hard rock albums in history, WHITESNAKE's "1987". During an interview with RollingStone.com that focused primarily on DEEP PURPLE's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Coverdale said: "I was trying to retire. I released a thing called 'The Purple Album', which I thought, after losing Jon Lord [former DEEP PURPLE keyboardist] in 2012, I'd received a message from his representative to say, 'He's determined to kick this. Would you be there for some kind of PURPLE reunion thing?' I said, 'Tell him I'm there for him.' And sadly he didn't recover. But I reached out to [former DEEP PURPLE guitarist Ritchie] Blackmore after 30 years of hostility to bury the hatchet and with no other agenda other than to share the sadness and sorrow. And we started communicating into 2013 when he asked me to speak to his manager about working together and doing either Blackmore/Coverdale or some kind of PURPLE thing. And really, I love what I do! Knowing me, I started working on revamping or contemporizing 'Burn' songs. I thought, 'He's not going to want to do 'Come Taste The Band' [songs that were originally recorded] with Tommy [Bolin], God rest his soul. But, sorry, I thought, with his wife, he has BLACKMORE'S NIGHT, and I thought, I'll rearrange the song 'Sail Away' for us to do as this renaissance duet kind of thing. But I couldn't agree with the ideas that they had. So I thought, well, this will be my farewell album. Glad I came in! But it did so fucking well, it's like now, I'm looking at retiring next year on the 30th anniversary of the '1987' album." WHITESNAKE spent the last year touring in support of "The Purple Album", which was released in May 2015 via Frontiers Music Srl. The effort was billed as "a re-imagination of classic songs from Coverdale's time as the lead singer for DEEP PURPLE's Mark III and Mark IV studio albums." Coverdale was DEEP PURPLE's frontman from late 1973 to early 1976 and sang on the albums "Burn", "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band". David previously told Macedonia's Metropolis Radio that "The Purple Album" was originally going to mark the end of his recording career but turned out to be the catalyst for the new WHITESNAKE band to work on new material. He said: "When I was mixing 'The Purple Album' with my co-producer Michael McIntyre and Reb [Beach, WHITESNAKE guitarist], it felt to me…You know, I was 63 years old, and I'm going, 'Man, how long do I have to do this? This would be a perfect closure for me — to finish as I started.' But it's just kind of… In essence, it's re-energized me. I still write new music. We'll be recording some new music [in 2016]. But it's just revitalized me… re-renergized. That's all I can say. So any ideas that I had six months ago of retiring… I was totally honest, when I was making interviews, that I thought, you know, 'This is probably it.' But I had an incredibly good time on this U.S. tour with my musicians. It was incredible… Everybody contributed to this project in the most positive way. Now we've been performing these songs, it's even better than when we were recording them.And it just makes it more inspiring to look at the future for new stuff, with these guys. They are fabulous musicians, great people. I have no desire to hang up my rock and roll sneakers just yet." WHITESNAKE's current touring lineup — David Coverdale (vocals), Joel Hoekstra (guitar), Reb Beach (guitar), Michael Devin (bass), Tommy Aldridge (drums) and Michele Luppi (keyboards) — made its live debut on May 28, 2015 at Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, Washington. PURPLE classics revamped for "The Purple Album" include "Stormbringer", "Lady Double Dealer", "Soldier Of Fortune" and "Sail Away".
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