Perhaps one of the scariest things that can happen to a vocalist is having an injury that can potentially end their music career. While many singers take good care of their vocal cords in order to prevent such a career-ending incident from happening, sometimes unfortunate injuries might occur.
The former Deep Purple frontman and current Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale is particularly praised for his powerful and blues-tinged voice. Thus, the terrifying possibility of a severe vocal injury scared all of his fans when Whitesnake announced the devastating news after a show. Let’s take a look at the details of Coverdale’s injury that prevented him and his band from touring, as well as the diagnoses that could’ve caused the singer to lose his voice.
David Coverdale Suffered From A Vocal Injury
For the 30th anniversary of their sixth studio album entitled ‘British Steel,’ which was released on April 14, 1980, Judas Priest embarked on a tour in the U.S. in 2009 and played the album live in its entirety for the first time. In addition to this exciting news, this tour was a joint effort with fellow band Whitesnake. Unfortunately, Whitesnake announced some terrible news after their show in Denver, Colorado, on August 11, 2009, where the band was playing at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Apparently, David Coverdale suffered some kind of vocal injury during the performance, which later resulted in vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion. After seeing a specialist, Coverdale was advised to cancel all his live shows for the next two weeks, which meant that the remainder of the tour with Judas Priest had to be canceled. Whitesnake did what they had to and left the tour to avoid permanently damaging Coverdale’s vocal cords.
Whitesnake’s announcement follows:
“Unfortunately, last night at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver, Whitesnake had to cut their performance short due to Mr. Coverdale experiencing considerable pain in his vocal cords. He was immediately taken to a specialist for an examination. The specialist discovered that David was suffering from severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion.
He was instructed to cancel all performances for the next two weeks and then undergo a further examination. The doctors told us we were fortunate this was caught at a stage where no apparent permanent damage has been caused. We, therefore, regretfully have to announce that Whitesnake will not be appearing on the remainder of the U.S. tour with Judas Priest. Whitesnake sincerely regrets any disappointment this may cause.”
Following this worrying news, David Coverdale revealed in early February 2010 that his voice had seemed to have fully recovered from the injury that prevented him and the band from performing on the Judas Priest tour. Furthermore, the musician even announced that the band had been recording new demos for a new album, eventually released as the band’s eleventh studio album named ‘Forevermore’ on March 25, 2011.
