Whitesnake’s David Coverdale had knees replaced with titanium due to degenerative arthritis
Whitesnake lynchpin David Coverdale has revealed he had both his knees replaced with titanium last year due to agonising degenerative arthritis.
In his My Guide To Life feature in Issue 10 of Planet Rock Magazine, David explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.
David went under the knife in 2017 and told us that fortunately the surgery was a resounding success and he’s now planning world tours with Whitesnake over the next two years.
The 67-year-old Saltburn-by-the-Sea rocker said: “With all the years of bending and rotating (on stage), there’s wear and tear.
“I’ve got degenerative arthritis in my knees. It got to the point it was hurting so much it was pulling me out of the zone I needed to be in for my performance.
“So last year I had the right knee, then the left knee, replaced with titanium. My recovery was so successful the doctor shared details of it at a conference and I’m preparing for world tours for 2019 and 2020.
“To hear 12,000 people singing ‘Is This Love?’ and ‘Here I Go Again’ is transcendental. I am blessed.”
Elsewhere in the feature, David extolled the virtues of kissing and making up having reconnected with Ritchie Blackmore years after a physical altercation.
He explained: “I was 21 when I joined Deep Purple. I was thrown in at the deep end, it was sink or swim. I would have been out on my arse if I couldn’t deliver.
“Ritchie (Blackmore) and Jon (Lord) adopted me, but Ritchie and I went from mentor/disciple to unhealthy rivalry between Rainbow and Whitesnake, to a physical altercation in Germany which we like to call ‘Pünchen in München’.
“Then in a short period of time, I lost my aunt, my wife, lost a brother and then Jon Lord went. My lesson was to make amends.
“I reconnected with Ritchie, buried the hatchet and thanked him for the opportunity to study at the university of Deep Purple.”
You can read David Coverdale’s full My Guide To Life feature in Planet Rock Magazine, which is on sale now, where he also talks about why big hair was integral to his success, taking inspiration from Jimi Hendrix and why you should be proud of where you come from.
ORDER ISSUE 10 OF PLANET ROCK MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE