David Coverdale Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Around the age of 14, he began performing professionally and developing his voice. "I don't think my voice had broken," he explained to "Sounds" in 1974. "And that's when I first learnt how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's totally different from a normal voice." Coverdale started performing with local bands Vintage 67 (1966–68), The Government (1968–72) and Fabulosa Brothers (1972–73). In 1973, Coverdale saw an article in a copy of "Melody Maker", which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers
Deep Purple periods between 1968 and 1969 with the line-up including Rod Evans (lead vocals) and Nick Simper (bass, backing vocals), between 1974 and 1976 with the line-up including David Coverdale (lead vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals) (and Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore in 1975), and between 1989 and 1992 with the line-up including Joe Lynn Turner (vocals). The band's line-up (currently including Ian Gillan, and guitarist Steve Morse from 1994) has been much more stable in recent years, although keyboardist Jon Lord's retirement from the band in 2002 (being succeeded by Don Airey) left Ian Paice as the only original Deep