David Coverdale recording "Slide It In" to re-form Deep Purple. (Ian Paice had left Whitesnake in 1982.) In 1985, Sykes and Coverdale started working on new songs for the next album, but Coverdale soon contracted a serious sinus infection that made recording close to impossible for much of 1986 and which had doctors thinking he might never sing again. Coverdale eventually recovered, and recordings were continued. But before their upcoming album was fully recorded and released, Coverdale had dismissed Sykes from the band. The split with Sykes was, reportedly, not amicable. In many period interviews, Coverdale stated that the next album was
Gillan (band) to the UK to appear on Top of the Pops. Tormé was replaced by White Spirit guitarist Janick Gers (who would later join Iron Maiden) and this line-up released the live/studio double album "Double Trouble" at the end of 1981. In August 1982, the final album "Magic" followed. By this time, tension over money had reached fever pitch and Ian Gillan needed time to have nodes removed from his vocal cords. After the "Magic" tour, the band performed a final show at the Wembley Arena on 17 December, and then Ian Gillan dissolved the group while he underwent surgery. He