He was also the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after which he released two solo studio albums, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978), before forming Whitesnake in 1978.

[7] He was initiated into music at his maternal grandmother's place and school, at an early age started learning to play guitar and piano, but drawing was his primary medium of expression.

[citation needed] Coverdale started his career performing with local bands Vintage 67 (1966–1968), The Government (1968–1972), and Fabulosa Brothers (1972–1973).

[8] By 1973 he left art college and was successfully working as a "singing salesman",[7] until he saw an article in a copy of Melody Maker, which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers to replace Ian Gillan.

In February 1974, Deep Purple released their first album with Coverdale and Hughes, titled Burn, which was certified Gold in the United States on 20 March 1974,[9] and in the UK on 1 July.

The funk and soul influences of the previous record were even more prominent here and this was one of the reasons why guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left the band in June 1975.

[10] Rather than disbanding, Coverdale was instrumental in persuading the band to continue with American guitarist Tommy Bolin (of Billy Cobham and James Gang fame).

In March 1976, at the end of the final show of the tour, Coverdale reportedly walked off in tears and handed in his resignation, to which he was told there was no band left to quit.

The decision to disband Deep Purple had been made some time before the last show by Lord and Ian Paice (the last remaining original members), who had not told anyone else.

White Snake had been a very inward-looking, reflective and low-key affair in many ways, written and recorded as it was in the aftermath of the collapse of Deep Purple.

[8] After recording Northwinds, Coverdale soon formed the band Whitesnake, with Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody both handling guitar duties.

[8] Also in 1982, Coverdale was considered for the vocalist position with Black Sabbath following the departure of Ronnie James Dio, but he declined because of Whitesnake.

[16] Whitesnake gained significant popularity in the UK, Europe, and Asia, but North American success remained elusive.

In time for the US release of Slide It In, Coverdale made a calculated attempt at updating Whitesnake's sound and look by recruiting guitarist John Sykes from the remnants of Thin Lizzy.

Propelled by hit singles such as "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", as well as MTV airing of "Still of the Night", it finally made Whitesnake a "bona fide arena headliner" in North America.

Vandenberg co-wrote the entire album with Coverdale, but a wrist injury sidelined him from contributing the solo guitar work.

[18] In 1990, Coverdale sang and co-wrote (with Hans Zimmer and Billy Idol) the song "The Last Note of Freedom" for the Tony Scott film Days of Thunder.

Tired of the business in general, the rigors of touring and troubled by his separation and later divorce from Tawny Kitaen, Coverdale wanted to find other values in life and took "private time to reflect" and re-assess his career direction.

In December 2002, Coverdale re-reformed Whitesnake for an American tour with the Scorpions in early 2003,[8] with Tommy Aldridge on drums, Marco Mendoza (bass), Doug Aldrich (guitar), Reb Beach (ex-Winger guitarist) and keyboardist Timothy Drury.

[7][28][29] On 11 August 2009 Whitesnake were playing a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado when Coverdale suffered some kind of vocal injury.

[36] After cancelling the last 11 dates of the European leg of the tour due to health problems affecting various band members including Reb Beach, Tommy Aldridge and Coverdale himself, Whitesnake subsequently cancelled the entire 2022 North American leg of its Farewell Tour as Coverdale was forced to deal with ongoing respiratory health issues.

Not even Plant, definitely not Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, or anyone else can touch Coverdale at this moment in time when it comes to rock icons from that era — it's just a shame that hardly anyone comes to see it".

[4] In 2015, Dave Everley of Classic Rock considered that "Whitesnake are one of the great British bands of the past 40 years, and Coverdale is one of the finest blue-eyed soul singers, full-stop".

[46][47] Since 1988 he has lived on almost 10,000 sq ft estate in Incline Village, Nevada at Lake Tahoe where he built a luxurious house.

[51] A more spiritual than religious person, Coverdale since late 1960s is regularly practising meditation and considers it "the most incredible accessory or tool that I've found in my life".