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) then accepted an offer to front Black Sabbath to the incredulity of the Gillan band members, particularly McCoy, and the acrimony remains to the present day. McCoy subsequently released compilations of studio out-takes to which he had the rights, known as "The Gillan Tapes", and ensured that revenues were distributed fairly amongst the band. Bernie Tormé and John McCoy collaborated on the GMT band project, releasing two albums in 2006 and 2009. According to at least one interview, Gillan did not have nodes removed as British doctors recommended, as he was afraid that would adversely affect his voice. A German