Former Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra recently addressed David Coverdale’s absence from the music scene, sharing his thoughts in an interview with 101 WRIF.
The conversation centered on Coverdale’s retirement announcement and the uncertainty that followed his exit from the band’s farewell tour. When asked, “You just brought up Whitesnake. You know, David Coverdale just all of a sudden just kind of disappeared. Have you talked to David Coverdale recently?”, Hoekstra offered his perspective on the singer’s decision.
“I mean, David formally retired. I mean, which we all kind of saw coming, and you know, he had put an end to the farewell tour kind of in the middle of it, more or less,” Hoekstra said.
“And that’s something I think we all more or less saw coming, but we were just waiting on David to, you know, take his time and think things through and see what he really wanted to do. And he made a formal announcement regarding his retirement.”
Hoekstra went on to praise Coverdale’s career and offer his support for the decision.
“And, you know, he’s got my full support. I mean, I had a great time in the band. I love David, but he certainly earned it, man. What a career — not only what he did with Whitesnake, but with Deep Purple and with Coverdale-Page, working with Jimmy Page, you know. I mean, great career, you know, he’s a legend, man,” he continued.
“So, as far as I’m concerned, he’s deserved it, you know. He can do whatever he wants. He deserves it.”
Hoekstra’s remarks line up with the timeline of events that led to Coverdale stepping away from the stage for good.
Whitesnake’s farewell run, billed as The Farewell Tour MMXXII, kicked off on May 10, 2022, at Dublin’s 3Arena. The trek came to an abrupt halt after the band’s June 23, 2022, performance at France’s Hellfest festival, when health issues sidelined Coverdale and several other members. The band never resumed the tour, leaving fans in limbo for years about whether Coverdale would ever return to the road.
That limbo ended on November 13, 2025, when the 74-year-old singer posted a video message declaring it was “time for me to call it a day.” The announcement was shared on Whitesnake’s social media pages. It capped a music career spanning more than five decades and closed the door on any hope of a return to touring.
Coverdale’s retirement message also reflected on the full scope of his career, one that stretched well beyond Whitesnake. Before founding the band, he fronted Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976. He later teamed up with Jimmy Page for the one-off project Coverdale-Page, a partnership Hoekstra specifically singled out as a career highlight.
The retirement announcement drew tributes from across the rock world, with peers and former bandmates alike acknowledging the end of an era. Hoekstra’s comments to 101 WRIF add to that chorus, framing Coverdale’s exit not as a mysterious disappearance but as a deliberate, hard-earned decision by a musician who had given the genre five decades of work.
