DAVID COVERDALE Explains Decision To Cut His Hair: 'I've Been Tempted To Do It For A While'

In a new interview with "THAT Rocks!", the weekly YouTube series hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, former DEEP PURPLE and current WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale opened up about his decision to change his trademark look, with the singer now sporting a cropped hairstyle, trading his blonde color for shades of gray.

"I saw a picture of myself the other day from PURPLE days, and I had these fucking huge burners going," David said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It was dangerous to light a spliff near them, I think.

"I've been tempted to do it for a while, and last year was such a challenging year; I was on so much medication that it really crisped my hair. I looked like a terrible Norwegian death metal band or something that never heard of conditioner. So it was the perfect time to embrace the gray."

The 71-year-old Coverdale continued: "What was amazing was trying to find somebody with the balls to actually cut the hair, because if it was announced, there would be potential death threats, 'cause it's been such a long time. But it's fun. I'm enjoying it."

David went on to say that he has another hair appointment scheduled for later this week. "Finally, I need a cut [laughs], which I never thought I'd hear myself saying," he said. "But I've got my hair dresser flying in on Sunday, so next time we speak, I'll be freshly coiffed. [The hair dresser is flying in from] Los Angeles. It's a modest flight. It's a short flight. And he's a doll too.

"The girl who did [the original cut] is a charming girl in Reno, and she had the balls to actually cut it off," David added. "And I'm going, 'Jesus Christ.' Sitting in a chair, I was up to here with hair. It was seriously long that time."

Coverdale says that he has no misgivings about his new look. "I'm sorry to piss people off, but I am who I am," he explained.

WHITESNAKE canceled several European shows last summer and pulled out of its previously announced North American tour with the SCORPIONS last fall due to Coverdale's "continued treatment for a persistent upper respiratory infection."

On June 28, 2022, WHITESNAKE scrapped three shows on its spring/summer European tour due to Coverdale's infection of the sinus and trachea. Three days later, the rest of the trek was also called off. At the time, David blamed the decision on "continuing health challenges, doctor's orders, and our concern for everyone's health and safety."

David was not the first member of WHITESNAKE to fall ill during the group's spring/summer 2022 European tour. Guitarist Reb Beach missed several shows on the trek in June 2022 after being "under the weather." On June 25, 2022, WHITESNAKE canceled its show at the Rock Imperium festival in Spain due to the fact that drummer Tommy Aldridge "went down" and "was bad enough at the time to have missed the first show ever in his career," according to Coverdale.

WHITESNAKE launched its farewell tour on May 10, 2022 at Dublin, Ireland's 3Arena. The band's 14-song set, which was part of a European tour with special guests EUROPE and co-headliners FOREIGNER, marked WHITESNAKE's inaugural performance with the group's two latest two additions, keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist Dino Jelusick and bassist Tanya O'Callaghan.

Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.

Prior to the pandemic, WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.

On April 28, WHITESNAKE released a legacy retrospective, "Still Good To Be Bad". The collection was made available in different configurations, a few days after the 15th anniversary of "Good To Be Bad", the band's tenth studio album and its first in over a decade.