DINO JELUSICK Explains How 'Serious E-Mail From DAVID COVERDALE's Lawyer' Put An End To WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE Project

In a new interview with Igor Miranda of Rolling Stone Brasil, Croatian singer/multi-instrumentalist Dino "Jelusick" Jelusić, who was enlisted by WHITESNAKE for its final European tour, reflected on his brief stint with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit. Speaking about the circumstances that led to WHITESNAKE's July 2022 announcement that it was canceling the remainder of its European tour "due to continuing health challenges", Dino said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, that was a really weird tour. I saw [then-WHITESNAKE guitarist] Reb Beach, he gave an interview saying the farewell tour was a disaster. You know why? Because Reb Beach got COVID, and he tested for COVID. He was COVID positive for 20 days. I've never seen anything like that in my life. So he was kept away from... His last gig was Kraków... So he did, like, maybe 10 gigs, and then David wanted to cancel already. We were in Prague, and I remember us talking to David. I said, 'Listen, if Joel [Hoekstra, then-WHITESNAKE guitarist]...' 'Cause Joel is a different kind of a guy. He needs to learn everything. I'm more of a guy, if you ask me to play now something, I'm gonna start playing it. If I know the song, I'm gonna play it. I'm gonna find a way. And I told Joel, 'Listen, this can work. I can help. I can play riffs with you with the left hand. I have a cool sound. We're gonna make it work. Just let's not cancel stuff.' So we pulled off Prague, and we kept going, we kept going. And then another band member got COVID after Hellfest. And we were kept in Milano for a week. At one point I said, 'You know what, guys? If we're not gonna do shows, I'm gonna go home.' I sat on a bus with my stuff and I drove 12 hours back home, and I said, 'You know what? Just let me know when's the next gig. I mean, nothing is happening for a week.' This is actually the first time I'm telling this story. So I got home. And then he canceled my hometown show. People were super disappointed. And then STEEL PANTHER was opening for WHITESNAKE, so STEEL PANTHER decided to play a [headlining show at a] smaller place, and they called me as their guest. So I sang and played keytar with STEEL PANTHER, having a little fun. And I went to do a blues festival, and Coverdale said, 'I'm canceling the rest of the European tour,' which opened a new thing for me. I went to play an all-star show with Johnny Depp, Joe Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde, which was amazing. And then I did THE DEAD DAISIES thing, 'cause [then-THE DEAD DAISIES singer] Glenn [Hughes] got sick. It was the same month. I learned 14 songs in one day, and we opened for JUDAS PRIEST. And then David canceled the North American [WHITESNAKE] tour, then he canceled the Japanese tour, the South American tour and a residency tour. So we were booked for two years, and I said, 'Okay, I'm not doing anything but this.' All of a sudden everything is empty. But it worked out fine because I started [my solo project] JELUSICK early 2023 clean, 'cause I ended up with a little court case, big court case I had with Frontiers [Music Srl]. After [David] canceled everything, we were in touch, but we never talked about playing live again, and then he just retired. I spoke to him a couple of days ago. He was hiking, so... I guess he's doing well if he can hike."

Dino added: "I really enjoyed my time with David. He's my biggest hero, and it's been an honor seeing him giving me so much love and respect in the band. It was amazing."

Regarding Coverdale's November 2025 announcement that he was retiring from music, Dino said: "[David] called me on the phone in November, before he retired, and he said, 'Listen, I wanna tell you that I'm gonna retire. I went back and listened to everything I've done. I have nothing more to say. I'm happy with my career.' Not many singers will do that, 'cause we always have something to say… So I'm really happy that he's happy with that, and he's happy to just enjoy his family time."

During the Rolling Stone Brasil chat, Dino also addressed last year's cancelation of a concert in Serbia by him and some of the other former members of of WHITESNAKE. A press conference was held in late May 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia to announce the participants of the 58th Guitar Festival in Zaječar, which was scheduled to take place from August 28, 2025 to 30, 2025 at Kraljevica. The conference featured Dino, Marco Mendoza and Ivan Keller, who announced an exclusive performance at Guitar Festival by the band WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE BY THE MEMBERS OF WHITESNAKE. The event was supposed to be the only concert in the world featuring members of the legendary band WHITESNAKE: Hoekstra, Jelusić, Mendoza, drummer Tommy Aldridge and keyboardist Michele Luppi. However, within just a few weeks, the WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE concert was canceled, with Serbia's Vreme reporting at the time that some of the musicians who were booked to appear at the festival objected to other artists' mixing of politics and culture.

Jelusić explained: "WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE never happened… So the funny thing is, I watch some comments on Facebook, and that's why I don't trust comments anymore, 'cause there was a lady that said, 'Dino, you're my favorite singer. Your work in…', and then she mentioned the band, 'and especially your work in WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE, and those live shows were amazing.' And I'm, like, what? What live shows? That never happened.

"I'll tell you the story… I'm always afraid to open this topic because everybody was assuming I was gonna carry the torch in WHITESNAKE," Dino continued. "And David kept saying, 'Oh, I wanna do something with you. This is the type of song you and I should write together.' And he would play me blues songs. 'You should sing this. I'm gonna write this.' Because we shared a lot of vocals in WHITESNAKE. We sang 'Slide It In'. And Michele and I covered all the high parts and stuff, and 'Crying In The Rain' and 'Still Of The Night' and 'Fool For Your Loving' — a lot of stuff.

"So we were supposed to do one show," Dino said. "Coverdale was happy. Tommy said yes. So the conditions were if I say 'yes' and Tommy says 'yes', it's on. They only needed us two. I said, 'If Tommy's in, I'll do it.' And Tommy was in. And Marco Mendoza was in and Michele Luppi was in and Joel was in. And all of a sudden, we do a press conference in Belgrade…. Oh, and my guitar player, Keller, he was supposed to do it, so him and Hoekstra together. So we came to Belgrade to do the press conference. And as we do the press conference, here comes Marco Mendoza out of nowhere in Belgrade at the press conference. And I love Marco. If he's watching this, I love Marco. But he's very unpredictable. He's like, 'Yeah, man, none of this would be possible if there wasn't for Dino, this new project. It's gonna be called WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE.' I suggested, maybe we should call this show WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE, this one show. 'Yeah, this project, WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE.' And I'm, like, 'What is he talking about?' All of a sudden, the media says, 'New project. WHITESNAKE is moving on with Dino on vocals.' And we all get a pretty serious e-mail from David's lawyer. And everybody backed off. And I was, like, 'Marco, what happened?' And Marco did some things without asking. And I called David. I said, 'Listen. I just wanted to do these songs because I heard you were okay with this. If you don't want me to do the show, you know I respect you.' 'Oh, no, brother. I know it's not your fault, but Marco did this, Marco did that.' So in the end, it was canceled… And then I saw Marco. I played with Marco and [former WHITESNAKE guitarist] Doug Aldrich at NAMM [in January 2026]. We played WHITESNAKE. And again, it opened the box. 'Oh my God, this is amazing. They should reform WHITESNAKE.' And Marco was, like, 'Hey, bro, I know what happened was wrong, but trust me, this is gonna happen.' I'm, like, 'Marco, come on, man. If David doesn't say yes, if he doesn't take care of this, it doesn't make sense to do it.' So without David's word, without David telling me, 'Okay, do it,' or, 'I want you to do it,' I'm not gonna do it, because it's not my band after all."

Dino added: "So that's the story of WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE. That never happened. It never existed."

This past January, Hoekstra was asked by Ernest Skinner of Canada's Border City Rock Talk if there were any plans for WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE BY THE MEMBERS OF WHITESNAKE to play any shows in 2026. Joel responded: "No. That was something that was really just set up [to be a one-off thing]. We did one of those [in July 2023], technically in France, just over the border from Switzerland. I think we were staying in Switzerland, but the gig was in France [at the Guitare En Scène festival]. And it was just kind of called 'all-star band featuring members of WHITESNAKE', and it was just kind of something that David [Coverdale, WHITESNAKE's founding singer] said, 'Yeah, that's cool with me.' And that was fine. As it turns out, this 'WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE' thing, there was some language involved there that got out ahead of what we were doing. I mean, it was intended to be a one-off gig."

Joel continued: "Anything long term with that, that would have to come from David. This was meant to be just kind of, like, 'Hey, let's get together and have some fun and do a one-off,' and suddenly all [there was] this traction online about it being a project. The only thing David had given approval for was for us to do a one-off. There was no talk about this being a full-time thing. That was — I don't know where it got started, I don't know who to attribute that to, but it got out ahead of itself. I made a social media post trying to say, like, what's everybody doing. That's not what this is. [It was supposed to be] just a one-off. And David, to his credit, was cool with all that. And anything like that, somebody who spent their life building a brand, building WHITESNAKE, if it was gonna turn into anything — even a one-off was something that I personally wanted to talk to David about and be, like, 'Is this cool with you?', out of respect [and] out of loyalty. But anything long term, that, I think, would have to come from David. I don't think that would be us putting something together and going, 'Is it cool with you if…?' So, that would be something that David would say, 'I'm interested in doing this.' And as far as I know, there's not really anything really happening with that. There was, I think, rumors and not a whole lot there, to be honest."

In June 2025, a short time after WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE BY THE MEMBERS OF WHITESNAKE's concert at the 58th Guitar Festival in Zaječar was announced, Hoekstra took to his social media to share a BLABBERMOUTH.NET headline announcing the performance, and he included the following message: "Just so everyone understands clearly what is happening. This is not a band. This is not a project. This is an isolated show and nothing more.

"We actually did one of these already July 21, 2023 at Guitare-en Scene in France. I believe we were just billed as 'All-Star Band' for that. Tommy Aldridge and Reb Beach were unavailable for that. Perhaps Tommy's involvement in this upcoming show and the decision (by others) to bill it as WHITESNAKE EXPERIENCE has caused the stir.

"I had reached out to David Coverdale regarding Guitare-En Scene (when I was asked to participate) to make sure that the appearance was ok with him. That call was placed out of respect and quite simply, to do the right thing. David essentially replied 'sure, have fun!'

"When this upcoming show in Serbia was booked, I did the same thing and David came back with the same reply. David has not endorsed this as a project or band. He simply gave me permission to participate. Any misleading info making this seem like it's more than one show is inappropriate and sensationalistic in nature.

"I've also seen some people wondering why Reb Beach isn't going to be there and it's my understanding that Reb was unavailable for the show.

"I know this all seems a bit much, but I don't think it's fair to anyone involved to have this appear as if we are doing anything more than a 'show'.

"So, thank you DC for giving your blessing to us to go have some fun and play together!"

At the May 2025 press conference, Mendoza emphasized that he and the other musicians chose to hold this unique global concert in Serbia, specifically in Zaječar, because they had always been warmly welcomed in the country and had sold out shows in Belgrade.

"Tradition and quality are very important to us, and the Guitar Festival, with its 58-year history, is something you must respect and cherish. Your audience is one of the best in the world, and I believe they will enjoy this performance with us," he said.

Dino added: "We're preparing a special setlist of WHITESNAKE's greatest hits. Singing the songs of my childhood idol David Coverdale is a special honor and pleasure for me. Although I've performed with big names in the rock world in the meantime, WHITESNAKE's songs suit me best, and playing with such a fantastic group of musicians is pure hedonism for me."

In a November 2023 interview with Chris Akin Presents, Jelusić, who was enlisted by WHITESNAKE for its last European tour, was asked if there was any truth to the rumor that he was brought in to assist David Coverdale with the lead vocals on the trek. He responded: "Well, since there's no official statement on what everybody was guessing… And I was actually hearing a lot of stories from behind that I'm actually brought in to replace [David]. He never really officially asked me, but I heard from a very close person that he kind of was thinking about that. So I don't wanna say that it is like that 'cause I heard it from a close person, so I don't wanna state that.

"But, to me, WHITESNAKE is David Coverdale, and I would never wanna take that spot, to be honest with you," Dino continued. "I don't wanna be a little, young guy that sounds great singing David Coverdale songs. I am myself and I wanna do stuff myself. I wanna do it with my own songs.

"David Coverdale is WHITESNAKE, and if the band should end because he wants to retire, the band should end because he wants to retire," Jelusić explained. "'Cause this way you can find somebody to replace Steven Tyler, somebody to replace Robert Plant, and the bands can just go on and on and on. I don't think that's the point.

"I sang a lot, obviously, live. If you came to see WHITESNAKE, you noticed — you could notice that. I sang 'Slide It In' half-half with him, and I covered a lot of ground, along with Michele [Luppi], the keyboard player. So there was a lot of work; it was a lot of work. And I enjoyed the tour. We had a great time with [European tourmates] FOREIGNER and EUROPE, both bands that I love. And, yeah, it was really cool."

Jelusić was previously a member of the multi-platinum-selling band TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and DIRTY SHIRLEY (with George Lynch),ANIMAL DRIVE and recorded with many others. Dino has been singing, touring and recording since the age of five. Other than being a frontman, his main instrument are keyboards but he also plays bass, guitar and drums. He finished music academy and did theater work.

When Jelusić's addition to WHITESNAKE was first announced in July 2021, David said in a statement: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome the extremely gifted Dino Jelusick to WHITESNAKE. We've had our eyes and ears on him since we played Zagreb together two years ago. You're going to love him!"

In October 2021, Coverdale spoke about Dino's addition to WHITESNAKE, telling Antihero Magazine: "He's going to be the way I have two guitar players.

"I've always seen WHITESNAKE as an orchestra," he explained. "I don't see it as a band-band. I don't want two guitarists playing exactly the same song, or just harmony guitars, I want two opposing… you've got the incendiary Joel Hoekstra, entirely different to the electrifying Reb Beach. And this is not to overwhelm Michele. Michele's totally secure. I adore him and what he brings to WHITESNAKE.

"In 2019, Dino's band opened for us in Zagreb, and this is very rare for me, and I went, 'Who the fuck is that?' And I was going, 'Wow, that kid's great.' And Joel said, 'Yeah, I worked with him in the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. He's a great guy.' And I said, 'That guy's a 'Snake', dude.' And I said, 'Don't say anything yet. I'm going to keep my eyes and ears on him.'

"So, I think it's going to be fantastic," Coverdale added. "I'm going to have an orchestra of keyboards for a lot of songs on WHITESNAKE which are big epics, that make them even more musically orchestrated without having an orchestra on stage with us.

"I mean, the guy's great, I can't wait to sing with him. I already have [two] singers who are good enough to be frontman singers, with Michele Luppi and Reb Beach; they are really great singers. What's wrong with having another one? And I think he's a super guy… It's got to be exciting to me and adding another spice to an already good cocktail."

The 74-year-old David announced his retirement in a video message on November 13, 2025, telling his fans before a remake of WHITESNAKE's 2011 song "Fare Thee Well": "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters of the 'SNAKE, a special announcement for you.

"The last few years has been very evident to me that it's time really for me to hang up my rock and roll platform shoes and my skin-tight jeans. And as you can see, we've taken care of the lion's wig. But it's time for me to call it a day."

Coverdale expressed his gratitude to his loved ones and fans, who have supported him as the frontman for both WHITESNAKE and DEEP PURPLE, but said it was time for him to enjoy his retirement.

"I love you dearly. I thank everyone who's assisted and supported me on this incredible journey. All the musicians, the crew, the fans, the family. It's amazing."

Coverdale raised a glass as he delivered his parting message, "Fare thee well," referencing WHITESNAKE's song of the same name.

WHITESNAKE canceled several European shows in the summer of 2022 and pulled out of a North American tour with the SCORPIONS due to David's "continued treatment for a persistent upper respiratory infection."

Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.

Prior to the pandemic, WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.