David Coverdale , leader of Whitesnake , recalled his departure from Deep Purple in a recent interview. The musician, who joined the band in 1974 to replace Ian Gillan , described the separation as "turbulent" because he didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye to the audience or his colleagues, such as his good friend Glenn Hughes .
“When I left Deep Purple, nobody told Glenn at the time! It was really turbulent, I didn’t want to say goodbye,” he told Planet Rock (via Ultimate Guitar ). “The band’s last UK tour, that was a favor to the tour manager. It simply wasn’t Deep Purple – Jon Lord and Ian Paice were playing with their heads down.”
Coverdale recalled being instructed to keep his departure from the band a secret, even at their last show together, while Lord and Paice decided on their next steps. The secret remained within the band, and Hughes only confirmed his suspicions when he met the singer six months later at a wedding party. “He said, ‘You’re leaving?!’, and I replied, ‘I already left’,” the vocalist recounted. “[He said] ‘You can’t leave, I have all these ideas!’. But we remained great friends and supported each other. He has a beautiful voice, he’s a great singer.”
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