DAVID COVERDALE Says WHITESNAKE Has Never Used Backing Tracks During Live Shows

David Coverdale says that WHITESNAKE has never used backing tracks during the band's concerts.

In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse, pre-recorded tracks are becoming increasingly common for touring artists of all levels and genres and they're not just used in pop music — many rock artists utilize playback tracks to varying degrees.

Coverdale addressed some rock acts' reliance on pre-recorded tracks in a new interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen & Shane McEachern". Asked for his opinion on singers who use backing tracks for their lead vocals, the WHITESNAKE vocalist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that's happening a lot, unfortunately. But that's somebody's choice. That doesn't happen with us.

"I remember years ago somebody who should have known better had made a remark that they were shocked to see us using tapes," he continued. "This is many, many years ago. And nobody could be further from the fucking truth. Are you kidding? My band are great players and great singers — simple fact. But it got so ridiculous, how it does with the viral Internet, we invited journalists to come and stand at the front of house and see that everything that was going on is live.

"But that is WHITESNAKE," David added. "And I've gotta tell you, you're getting live, wherever you are. Good or bad, it's live. There's never been a consideration of tapes. But I do know a lot of my contemporaries embrace that. And good luck to them. It's not interesting to me.

"Listen, even when I'm making promo videos, I'm singing my nuts off. I can't pretend," he said.

Back in 2009, legendary vocalist Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) told Spain's The Metal Circus that he "heard on the Internet that David Coverdale was using all kinds of tapes. Well, I was in Finland [in June 2008] with Graham Bonnet and we were on the same festival [Sauna Open Air] as WHITESNAKE, and I couldn't believe he was using these tapes — for lead singing," he said. "Not just backgrounds, but lead! And I was... My mouth was open. I was like, 'What the fuck, David?! You can't do this. You look so stupid, so foolish.' And everyone is complaining about this. No, I'm singing live. This is what you get; that's it. . . I'm not trying to talk shit... This is true. Everybody sees this. . . I couldn't believe it, because he [David] was always one of my favorite singers. To use tapes for a lead vocal... I can understand backgrounds if the [rest of the bandmembers] don't sing. But for lead?! You've gotta be kidding."

Coverdale later fiercely denied Turner's allegations that the WHITESNAKE frontman lip-synced to pre-recorded tapes of vocals in concert, calling Joe's claims "absolute balderdash."

Coverdale told Classic Rock magazine: "I have no idea what the hell the daft bugger's talking about. I do not, have not and will not use tapes of my voice to mime in concert. My band and I perform and sing live in concert. Yeah… we're that fucking good! What a total prick."

Coverdale continued: "We had these rumors in Germany [in 2008] while we were on tour with ALICE COOPER and we actually had a journo sit out at the front-of-house mix to verify the rumors were unfounded.

"It's strange… this started on the Internet [in 2008] in Spain, then again in Germany. It persisted so much that SPV, my record company, proposed we get a 'regarded German journalist' to witness and report on the show, so we did.

"I'm not sure what you can do when something like this does the rounds. I'm still dealing with the 'Is it true you're joining VAN HALEN' rumors from years ago.

"If this continues, I'll get a some of my professional associates to make statements about this nonsense," he added.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley, who has been struggling to hit the high notes in many of the band's classic songs for a number of years, has been accused of singing to a backing tape on KISS's ongoing "End Of The Road" tour.

Back in 2015, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons slammed bands who used backing tapes for not being honest enough to include that fact on their concert tickets.

"I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks," Simmons said. "It's like the ingredients in food. If the first ingredient on the label is sugar, that's at least honest. It should be on every ticket — you're paying $100, 30 to 50 percent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they'll sing sometimes, sometimes they'll lip sync. At least be honest. It's not about backing tracks, it's about dishonesty.

"There's nobody with a synthesizer on our stage, there's no samples on the drums, there's nothing," Gene continued. "There's very few bands who do that now — AC/DC, METALLICA, us. I can't even say that about U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES. There's very few bands who don't use [backing] tracks."

Last month, KISS's longtime manager Doc McGhee defended Stanley's vocal performance on "End Of The Road", explaining that the "Star Child" "fully sings to every song" at every concert. He explained: It's enhanced. It's just part of the process to make sure that everybody hears the songs the way they should be sang to begin with. Nobody wants to hear people do stuff that's not real, that's not what they came to hear."

When McGhee was asked to clarify if he was "actually saying there are backing tracks that [Paul is] singing to," Doc said: "He'll sing to tracks. It's all part of a process. Because everybody wants to hear everybody sing. But he fully sings to every song."

In March 2020, SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers said that "90 percent" of rock artists use at least some pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. He told Rock Feed: "It bothers me that it bothers people. I'm, like, 'Why does this bother you?' It's the way it is. People have been doing this since the '80s. And we want the sound to be the best it can be. Could we go up there, just the four of us, and put on the best rock show ever? Of course. But that's not how we wanna do it."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has previously said that he is "one of the last people" who are still not using pre-recorded tracks at their live shows. "I don't know how much longer I can say to you that I don't use tapes onstage, because I don't, and I never have," he told Consequence Of Sound. "And I still don't. When I have opening bands, and they're using tapes, and then I come out and I don't use tapes… sometimes, it makes me feel stupid, because I'm like, 'What am I doing, when all these kids half my age can come onstage and do all of my moves, but they don't have to warm up for an hour before the show, or weeks, before the first show?' Sometimes, I'm like, 'Why do I even bother, if the public is so used to this other way?' It's becoming very rare to come see a good band that's actually a real band — that's not miming or doing silly moves while a tape is running. It just becomes more rare as the years go on."

In 2019, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said that he doesn't "agree" with certain rock artists relying on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. "I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don't think it's a good thing at all," he told the New York Post. "I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We've toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it's not real. You're supposed to play live; it should be live. I don't agree with using tapes … I think it's a real shame."

One musician who has been open about his band's use of taped vocals during live performances is MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who said: "We've used technology since '87." He added the group employed "sequencers, sub tones, background vox tracks, plus background singers and us. [MÖTLEY CRÜE also taped] stuff we can't tour with, like cello parts in ballads, etc.... We love it and don't hide it. It's a great tool to fill out the sound."

In a 2014 interview, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars admitted that he wasn't comfortable with the fact that his band used pre-recorded backing vocals in its live shows, claiming that he preferred to watch groups whose performances are delivered entirely live. "I don't like it," he said. "I think a band like ours… I have to say '60s bands were my favorite — '60s and '70s bands — because they were real, like, three-piece bands or four-piece bands, and they just got up there and kicked it up. Made a mistake? So what? Sounded a little bit empty here or there? So what? It's the bigness and the rawness and the people that developed and wrote the songs and made them and presented them. To me, that's what I really like. I mean, I could put on a MÖTLEY CD and play with it all day long. I don't wanna do that."