Recently, in a chat with Yahoo Entertainment, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness looked back on the band’s 20-year ride and talked about a memory involving his mother and David Coverdale.
When asked if he had any ‘I’ve-made-it moments’ in his career, the singer first said:
“I don’t know. I think meeting the surviving members of Queen was just huge, a huge thrill. Playing with Whitesnake – I mean, because of the way that our music had been so unfashionable for such a long time when we started to do, you know, get a live reputation, we’d end up on support slots for a lot of what you probably call heritage rock acts, and those are the ones that I grew up listening to.”
Recalling the flirting between Coverdale and his mother, he went on:
“Those are the reasons why we are interested in doing this in the first place. Just meeting those people was amazing. I watched my mom flirting with David Coverdale from Whitesnake, and it was a weird mixture of emotions. I felt sorry for my dad, who had to stand there to witness it.”
Hawkins went deeper into this story in a 2022 video on his Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel. Although he didn’t remember all the details about the incident, The Darkness frontman remembered how the interaction started:
“My mother was walking along the corridor; David Coverdale was walking in the other direction. And as they passed one another, awkwardly trying to jostle for who goes [first], he was trying to be a gentleman, and my mum just went, ‘Well, make way for royalty!’ And he went, ‘Me or you?'”
He talked about his feelings at the moment by adding:
“Just watching this exchange was… it made me vomit in my mouth – in a really good way, you know. Because it’s David Coverdale and my mum. While my dad looked on, helpless. I’m sure that’s happened to a lot of people over the years.”
In addition to sharing his memories with Coverdale, Hawkins also commented on his live performances during Whitesnake’s farewell tour. He addressed the vocalist losing his voice and said:
“It’s not the same as it was to quote the great Harry Styles, but why the f-ck would anybody expect it to be as it was? He is not doing something that everybody can do. He’s a foot fully on the gas kind of singer, and after these many years of doing that, this is the best you’re going to get.”
David Coverdale’s band had to cancel their tour in 2022 due to health problems. New dates for their farewell shows are yet to be announced, while The Darkness’ ‘The Permission To Land 20th Anniversary Tour’ is set to kick off in October.
