Coverdale

Sykes joined Whitesnake in 1984 when the band’s frontman, former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale, asked him to replace founding guitarist Micky Moody while the British band was on tour behind that year’s “Slide It In.”

Yet those iconic videos don’t feature Sykes, as Coverdale had fired the guitarist before the “Whitesnake” album was released — a dismissal Sykes said he found out about from the band’s A&R rep.

In 2023, Coverdale told Metal Edge that “things went squirrely” between him and Sykes and that “no matter how incredible of an album that we made together, we were unable to connect as people.”

Paying tribute on X, Coverdale shared a number of photos of himself and and Sykes together in Whitesnake's heyday.

In 1984, he joined Whitesnake at the invitation of founder and frontman David Coverdale, recording parts for their Slide It In album and later for their self-titled 1987 release which was a critical and commercial success.