In a recent interview with Alma Hard, former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg explained why he took a 15-year break from recording music.
“Well, I stayed together with David [Coverdale] up until 1998, because we did tour — we toured in 1994 and we toured in 1997, ’98. So, the end of 1998, David wanted to stop with everything because he wasn’t feeling well and he wanted to stop touring because he didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore,” he revealed Coverdale’s reason before talking about his own. “So, in 1999, I was with a girlfriend at the time and she got a baby. Or actually we got a baby, and she got pregnant and I thought, ‘That’s great. I wanna be there for that.’ Of course, I didn’t wanna tour and then record records because that’s a very important thing. But when the baby was three years old, the relationship fell apart, and we weren’t married. And it appeared to be a very difficult period. And I thought, ‘If I’m gonna record now and start a band and start touring, then I will be one of those fathers who sticks his head around the corner of the door and goes, ‘I’m your father, but I have to go.’”
He continued: “So when that relationship went wrong, I wanted to be an important part in the life of my daughter. I thought, ‘You know what? I’m gonna live off my paintings for about 10, 11 years,’ which is what I did, ‘until she’s old enough that I can explain to her what I actually do and what I did before.’ So, when my daughter was about 11 or 12, she was old enough to explain and she thought it was really cool because there were kids at her school who go, ‘Oh, is that your dad? He’s famous and he’s got long hair’ and all that stuff. So before, until she was 11 or 12, for her it was totally normal that I played some guitar and there was painting and all that stuff. So, that’s when I started Moonkings. She must have been 12 or something.”
“And I really missed playing and touring and doing shows and all that stuff, so I was happy to pick it up again. And I thought, ‘Well, the world will have forgotten about me, of course.’ That would have been totally normal, because that’s how it goes. Pop music is called pop music because people, when it started, with bands like The Beatles and pop artists and stuff in the ’60s, people thought, ‘Oh, you know, that’s the kind of music you throw away. It’s pop music, popular music. That’s music you forget after about a couple of months.’ But it’s never gone away, fortunately, because that’s why I didn’t go away either. I’m still here,” the rocker added.
In another interview, the guitarist revealed that he considered rejoining, but the timing wasn’t right. After thirteen years of waiting for his daughter to grow old, the rocker was approached by his former bandmate for a second chance.
“When David asked me if I wanted to work with him in 2002-2003, I couldn’t be part of Whitesnake at the time,” he explained during a chat with Rock Pages. “Then I focused on Moonkings and now I want to focus on Vandenberg. It’s a matter of bad timing… that’s all. Lots of people are asking but… you never know!”
Vandenberg’s band made a comeback with their album ‘2020.’ A follow-up LP, ‘Sin,’ came out in August 2023. The band will soon be going on tour. They will perform four shows in the Netherlands, and one in the USA before moving on to their UK and Ireland tour, starting on May 4 in Wakefield.