In a recent interview with Radioactive MikeZ, Doug Aldrich shared that Ronnie James Dio was upset with him for working with David Coverdale.
When asked if he was part of Dio’s band during their U.S. tour with Iron Maiden over two decades ago, Aldrich responded:
“No. Actually, that tour was in 2003. Initially, Whitesnake asked me to join them, and I asked Ronnie [James Dio] if he was okay with it, and he said, ‘Yeah.’ It was supposed to be a two-month tour. We had a blast. The Whitesnake band was on fire, just like Dio’s band. Then [David] Coverdale [Whitesnake leader] asked, ‘Do you want to continue? I’ve got dates lined up for the rest of the year.’”
Ronnie Also Wanted Him on Tour. Aldrich explained his response to Coverdale’s offer:
“I was like, ‘Hell yeah. Let’s do it.’ During the breaks, I would visit Ronnie’s place, and we began writing for what eventually became ‘Master of the Moon,’ though I didn’t end up contributing to it. One day, Ronnie told me about an upcoming tour with Iron Maiden in the summer. I said, ‘Ronnie, are you serious? Are you sure?’ He confirmed, and I told him, ‘I just committed to David Coverdale for the summer run.’”
Aldrich recounted Dio’s reaction:
“He was pissed, man. He said, ‘What the f*ck?’ and basically kicked me out of his house, ending our writing session abruptly. He was really upset. I felt terrible, but I had a great opportunity with Coverdale, which eventually paid off with a lot of new music for Whitesnake. I went back to Ronnie a few times. In 2005, he asked me to fill in on a tour in Europe.”
Doug Convinced Coverdale to Write TogetherAldrich described what happened after rejoining Dio for European tours:
“In 2005, I did another European tour with Ronnie, which became the ‘Holy Diver Live’ DVD. During this time, Coverdale heard I was back with Ronnie and thought it was full-time. I told him, ‘If you want to keep Whitesnake going, we need to make new music.’ He agreed, and that’s when we started writing together.”
Between 2002 and 2014, Aldrich co-wrote many of Whitesnake’s songs with Coverdale. Initially, Coverdale was reluctant to give Aldrich much creative freedom, preferring to play their hits. However, after Aldrich suggested creating new music, Coverdale eventually agreed. They began writing together in 2006, resulting in the release of the album ‘Good to Be Bad’ in 2007.
You can watch the rest of Doug’s interview below.
