Whitesnake is an English hard rock band, founded in 1978 by vocalist David … Read Full Bio ↴Whitesnake is an English hard rock band, founded in 1978 by vocalist David Coverdale (formerly of Deep Purple) in North Yorkshire, UK. The current line-up of the band also include Joel Hoekstra (lead guitar), Reb Beach (rhythm guitar), Michael Devin (bass), Brian Ruedy (keyboards) and Tommy Aldridge (drums). While the group's membership has fluctuated, Coverdale remains the heart and soul of the band.
In their early years, Whitesnake played in a hard-edged blues rock and heavy metal influenced style. By the mid-80s, the band had moved towards a more commercially friendly arena rock and pop metal ethos, garnering them major hits such as "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Now You're Gone", "Slide It In", "Still of the Night", and the iconic tune "Here I Go Again" (arguably their 'signature song'). They were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Whitesnake were active primarily in the 80s, but they still tour, albeit with an entirely new line-up (bar Coverdale), to this day. Some of the most famous musicians who have joined the band for a time include Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Rudy Sarzo, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Steve Vai.
The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple. This is not only because three past members of the band were once in Deep Purple but also because of their sound and influences. Later, the band took on a sound more in line with the hair metal style popular in the mid to late 80s, but they never truly left their heavy, blues rock roots behind
Formed in 1978 by David Coverdale after leaving Deep Purple, Whitesnake were originally a straightforwards heavy rock group with Jon Lord and Ian Paice from Deep Purple in the band. Despite a few album releases and constant touring, Whitesnake was unable to attain any significant commercial success in America, though becoming popular in the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Their critical reviews as well for their albums were somewhat mixed.
After acquaintance with Chris Cuttler, Fred Frith and most importantly, young guitarist John Sykes, David Coverdale decided to turn to a slicker, more commercially viable sound. Whitesnake made their first major splash in the States in 1984 with the album 'Slide It In', featuring the self-titled single as well as rock tracks "Slow An' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger". All three of them gained major airplay and were eaten up by fans. Sykes was not involved in any of the song writing for 'Slide It In', though re-did some of Micky Moody's guitar work in the American remastering of the U.K. version of the album.
Three years later, thanks to radio-friendly, Zeppelin-ish songwriting and MTV friendly Tawny Kitaen's automobile acrobatics, Whitesnake became superstars with the album 'Whitesnake' (titled '1987' in Europe, and 'Serpens Albus' in Japan). Containing the U.S. smash hits "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", "Still of the Night" and others, the album eventually sold over 10 million copies. Coverdale replaced the entire band for the subsequent tour, ditching Sykes for guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell. Also joining the band at this point were bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Campbell left shortly after the tour (going on to replace Steve Clark in Def Leppard. Vandenberg, despite penning most of the material on the follow-up album, was unable to record due to a freak wrist injury. Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai was brought in to record all of the guitar parts for Slip of the Tongue, which was released in the spring of 1989. Despite going platinum, the album did not reach the stratospheric heights of Whitesnake (entitled 1987 in Europe, and Serpens Albus in Japan). With a divorce looming, and the alternative 'grunge' movement threatening to destroy the melodic rock movement, Coverdale dissolved Whitesnake.
In the late 90s, David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg finally recorded together again. Initially intended to be a Coverdale solo effort, the Whitesnake name was eventually attached (much like the Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath projects of the late 80s). The resulting products were a new studio album entitled Restless Heart, and the live acoustic set, Starkers In Tokyo.
In the early 2000's Coverdale relaunched Whitesnake fully with an entirely new lineup centred around guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich (previously of Winger and Lion/Dio). This Whitesnake embarked on tours across the globe, releasing the "Live In the Still of the Night" DVD and "Live... In the Shadow of the Blues" on CD in 2006. A new studio album, "Good to be Bad", was released in 2008 reaching the top 10 in the UK album charts.
Over the last few years Coverdale has been involved in a remastering project which has seen all albums from 1978's Trouble, to 1989's Slip of the Tongue reissued with bonus material.
Whitesnake released Forevermore, on March 25, 2011 in Europe, and on the 29th in North America. They have released a number of scheduled 2011 tour dates on their website, with six scheduled UK tour dates and other European dates. In February 2011, Whitesnake was announced as one of the headliners to play the annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, on Memorial Day weekend. A digital single for the song 'Love Will Set You Free' was released, along with a video for the song, on February 21.
The album Forevermore was released as a special edition 'Snakepack' through Classic Rock magazine on 25 March, a full 3 weeks before its commercial release. The fan pack includes the full, official new album Forevermore, a 132-page magazine, poster and pin badge. On 20 March 2011, Whitesnake announced that Brian Ruedy would play keyboards on the Forevermore World Tour.
The album did not chart highly upon its official release in the UK (number 33, possibly due to the copies released as part of the aforementioned Classic Rock Snakepack, which are not eligible for the charts). It did, however, show signs of Whitesnake's slow rebuild of support in the US with the album charting at number 49 - the band's highest charting album since the 80s.
Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are Whitesnake longest standing guitar players, both being in the band 10 years by 2012.
Whitesnake are set to embark on their farewell tour in May 2022, beginning in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and Europe. In July 2021, the group announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the band.
Website: http://www.whitesnake.com/
In their early years, Whitesnake played in a hard-edged blues rock and heavy metal influenced style. By the mid-80s, the band had moved towards a more commercially friendly arena rock and pop metal ethos, garnering them major hits such as "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Now You're Gone", "Slide It In", "Still of the Night", and the iconic tune "Here I Go Again" (arguably their 'signature song'). They were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Whitesnake were active primarily in the 80s, but they still tour, albeit with an entirely new line-up (bar Coverdale), to this day. Some of the most famous musicians who have joined the band for a time include Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Rudy Sarzo, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Steve Vai.
The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple. This is not only because three past members of the band were once in Deep Purple but also because of their sound and influences. Later, the band took on a sound more in line with the hair metal style popular in the mid to late 80s, but they never truly left their heavy, blues rock roots behind
Formed in 1978 by David Coverdale after leaving Deep Purple, Whitesnake were originally a straightforwards heavy rock group with Jon Lord and Ian Paice from Deep Purple in the band. Despite a few album releases and constant touring, Whitesnake was unable to attain any significant commercial success in America, though becoming popular in the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Their critical reviews as well for their albums were somewhat mixed.
After acquaintance with Chris Cuttler, Fred Frith and most importantly, young guitarist John Sykes, David Coverdale decided to turn to a slicker, more commercially viable sound. Whitesnake made their first major splash in the States in 1984 with the album 'Slide It In', featuring the self-titled single as well as rock tracks "Slow An' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger". All three of them gained major airplay and were eaten up by fans. Sykes was not involved in any of the song writing for 'Slide It In', though re-did some of Micky Moody's guitar work in the American remastering of the U.K. version of the album.
Three years later, thanks to radio-friendly, Zeppelin-ish songwriting and MTV friendly Tawny Kitaen's automobile acrobatics, Whitesnake became superstars with the album 'Whitesnake' (titled '1987' in Europe, and 'Serpens Albus' in Japan). Containing the U.S. smash hits "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", "Still of the Night" and others, the album eventually sold over 10 million copies. Coverdale replaced the entire band for the subsequent tour, ditching Sykes for guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell. Also joining the band at this point were bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Campbell left shortly after the tour (going on to replace Steve Clark in Def Leppard. Vandenberg, despite penning most of the material on the follow-up album, was unable to record due to a freak wrist injury. Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai was brought in to record all of the guitar parts for Slip of the Tongue, which was released in the spring of 1989. Despite going platinum, the album did not reach the stratospheric heights of Whitesnake (entitled 1987 in Europe, and Serpens Albus in Japan). With a divorce looming, and the alternative 'grunge' movement threatening to destroy the melodic rock movement, Coverdale dissolved Whitesnake.
In the late 90s, David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg finally recorded together again. Initially intended to be a Coverdale solo effort, the Whitesnake name was eventually attached (much like the Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath projects of the late 80s). The resulting products were a new studio album entitled Restless Heart, and the live acoustic set, Starkers In Tokyo.
In the early 2000's Coverdale relaunched Whitesnake fully with an entirely new lineup centred around guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich (previously of Winger and Lion/Dio). This Whitesnake embarked on tours across the globe, releasing the "Live In the Still of the Night" DVD and "Live... In the Shadow of the Blues" on CD in 2006. A new studio album, "Good to be Bad", was released in 2008 reaching the top 10 in the UK album charts.
Over the last few years Coverdale has been involved in a remastering project which has seen all albums from 1978's Trouble, to 1989's Slip of the Tongue reissued with bonus material.
Whitesnake released Forevermore, on March 25, 2011 in Europe, and on the 29th in North America. They have released a number of scheduled 2011 tour dates on their website, with six scheduled UK tour dates and other European dates. In February 2011, Whitesnake was announced as one of the headliners to play the annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, on Memorial Day weekend. A digital single for the song 'Love Will Set You Free' was released, along with a video for the song, on February 21.
The album Forevermore was released as a special edition 'Snakepack' through Classic Rock magazine on 25 March, a full 3 weeks before its commercial release. The fan pack includes the full, official new album Forevermore, a 132-page magazine, poster and pin badge. On 20 March 2011, Whitesnake announced that Brian Ruedy would play keyboards on the Forevermore World Tour.
The album did not chart highly upon its official release in the UK (number 33, possibly due to the copies released as part of the aforementioned Classic Rock Snakepack, which are not eligible for the charts). It did, however, show signs of Whitesnake's slow rebuild of support in the US with the album charting at number 49 - the band's highest charting album since the 80s.
Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are Whitesnake longest standing guitar players, both being in the band 10 years by 2012.
Whitesnake are set to embark on their farewell tour in May 2022, beginning in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and Europe. In July 2021, the group announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the band.
Website: http://www.whitesnake.com/
Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
Whitesnake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity,
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Baby, since you been around
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity, child
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Every place that I go
Well, it seems so strange
Without you love, baby, baby
Things have changed
Now that you're gone
Why know the sun don't shine
From the city hall
To the county line, that's why
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Now listen
Every place that I go,
Well, it seems so strange
Without you love, baby, baby
Things have changed
Now that you're gone
Why know the sun don't shine
From the city hall
Woman, to the county line, that's why
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
There ain't no love in the heart of town
There ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
There ain't no love in the heart of the city
There ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
'Cause you ain't around
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity,
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Baby, since you been around
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Every place that I go
Well, it seems so strange
Without you love, baby, baby
Things have changed
Now that you're gone
Why know the sun don't shine
From the city hall
To the county line, that's why
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
Now listen
Every place that I go,
Well, it seems so strange
Without you love, baby, baby
Things have changed
Now that you're gone
Why know the sun don't shine
From the city hall
Woman, to the county line, that's why
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
There ain't no love in the heart of town
There ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
There ain't no love in the heart of the city
There ain't no love in the heart of town
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
'Cause you ain't around
The lyrics to Whitesnake's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" reflect on the emptiness and desolation that the singer experiences in an urban environment without the presence of the person he loves. The song's opening lines refer to the absence of love in the titular "heart of the city," suggesting a pervasive and universal lack of emotional connection. The repetition of the phrase "Ain't no love" emphasizes the bleakness of this reality.
The singer describes how every place he goes without his lover feels strange and unfamiliar, signifying that their presence was what made these locales feel like home. The sunshine has faded with the departure of his beloved, further emphasizing the darkness and hopelessness that he is experiencing. The final chorus highlights once again the tragedy of the singer's loneliness and his yearning for the one who is no longer around to fill the empty space in his heart.
Overall, "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" is a powerful expression of the pain of separation and isolation that can come from losing someone you love.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't no love in the heart of the city
The city is devoid of love
Ain't no love in the heart of town
Even the town does not have love
Ain't no love, sure 'nuff is a pity
It's really unfortunate that there's no love
Ain't no love 'cause you ain't around
The reason for the lack of love is the absence of the beloved
Every place that I go
Every location I visit
Well, it seems so strange
It feels odd and different
Without you love, baby, baby
In the absence of your love, my dear
Things have changed
Everything is different
Now that you're gone
Since you've departed
Why know the sun don't shine
That's why the sun doesn't shine
From the city hall
Even in the city hall
To the county line, that's why
All the way to the county line, the reason for the lack of love remains
Woman, to the county line, that's why
Woman, all the way to the county line, the reason for the lack of love remains
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dan Walsh, Michael Alan Price
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@riverdart2068
Bernie Marsden R.I.P.
@richszmal1653
Best time period for whitesnake. I just love the blues era.
@susanmoran2154
They excelled at playing the blues.
@nellycol7559
Absolutely!
@brandonmounce3521
I agree 100% sir, love all Whitesnake but their early days/formation they just had good cynergy with this lineup anyways, his voice was made for the BLUES!! THE GUITARIST CAN FLAT WHALE, JUST LOOKS SO OUT OF PLACE, LOOKS LIKE A SHERIFF OF TOMBSTONE, GOD I MISS THOSE DAYS & DAMN GOOD MUSIC ACTUALLY MADE BY USING INSTRUMENTS/SKILL/ MOXY!!!!
@notgivennotgiven7776
Yeah, before they became a hair band
@maxirad93
They were brilliant in the 80s and looked better. The gigs were epic, the music just as good.
@dfifty2
Definetly one of the best vocalists of rock history
@lilianesouza2543
Absolutely 👍
@user-uj5xo7ox8k
Have to agree. Coverdale and Dio are definitely in my top 5