Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale says he's on the mend after recently being stricken with a "devastating" flu virus.
Coverdale tells Eddie Trunk he was hit with the potentially deadly virus a few months ago around the time Whitesnake was trying to record its upcoming new album.
"I got that horrible H3 flu, Edward, which took me out for I think about six weeks before I started to feel like myself again!" Coverdale said on Trunk's podcast. "It was horrifying. It was a killer! I don't know what the full [name of the flu] is, but it was that strain of flu that the anti-flu vaccination didn't cover. It was just evil. Evil, evil, evil strain of flu."
Coverdale says if he wasn't generally healthy at the time he got sick, the flu could have killed him—it certainly killed many people, he added.
"It was an incredibly devastating flu and a lot of people lost their lives. And thank God I was in shape to fight it off, but it took some time...Part of that [six weeks] was just the recovery; it kicked my ass. I mean, you fall over at my age, mate, it's not a giggle. It's like, 'Oh my god,' you're shaken out of your aura (laughs)."
The singer was in good spirits throughout the talk with Trunk and made no indication that he's ever going to retire as long as he's healthy enough to perform.
The upcoming Whitesnake album, the title of which has yet to be announced, is being mixed now.
Coverdale say he thinks it's Whitesnake's best album ever, describing it as classic Whitesnake but "with a fresh coat of paint."
The frontman recalled how fruitful the writing sessions were between Whitesnake guitarists Joel Hoekstra and Reb Beach, the latter of whom Coverdale says he's never written with until this new album.
Beach has been in the band since 2002.
"It's a family affair," Coverdale said of writing the album. "It really is cool. I'm very excited for people to hear it."
Listen to the full conversation here.
Whitesnake will be part of the Jukebox Heroes tour this summer, in the middle of a bill with Foreigner and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.
Get the tour dates here.
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