WHITESNAKE Fans Are Concerned About Guitarist REB BEACH After He Misses Four Shows In A Row

Fans have expressed their concern about the well-being of WHITESNAKE's longtime guitarist Reb Beach after he missed several shows on the band's ongoing European tour.

Beach sat out four dates on WHITESNAKE's current trek, which kicked off in early May in Dublin, Ireland: June 14 in Prague, Czech Republic, June 17 at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium, June 19 in Munich, Germany, June 21 in Zurich, Switzerland.

After the Prague concert, fellow WHITESNAKE guitarist Joel Hoekstra addressed Reb's absence in a tweet, writing: "Tonight @Whitesnake rocked @PrahaEU – Prague, Czech Republic along with our friends @europetheband ! A little last minute stress as Reb Beach was under the weather and I had to cover his solos. But, we gave you our best Prague!! The show must go on! #Whitesnake #TheFarewellTour".

Hoekstra's most recent update on Beach's condition came earlier today (Wednesday, June 22) in response to a fan on Twitter. Asked if Reb has gotten over his illness yet, Joel wrote: Hopefully Rebel returns immediately. Nobody misses him more than me. #GuitarTEAM".

Beach is one of the indisputable guitar giants of the current hard rock scene. His resume with '80s/'90s mega-stars WINGER alone would earn him this distinction, but his legacy is cemented by his current membership and work with the legendary WHITESNAKE, his past efforts with DOKKEN, and his recent release with supergroup BLACK SWAN, also featuring Jeff Pilson, Robin MacAuley and Matt Starr.

Influenced by the legendary hard rockers of the '70s, Reb spent his teen years jamming along with the greats of that era like AEROSMITH and MONTROSE, but it was when he discovered more progressive players like Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth and Larry Carlton that his musical world really opened up. The complexity and the speed of the more prog style of playing was a unique challenge compared to the blues-based playing of most musicians of that era. The discovery of these players was ultimately the catalyst that drove his playing to the level he is now so well known to music fans the world over for. Beach eventually graduated from his home practice space to the Berklee College Of Music, but after a couple of semesters he moved on and soon became one of the most sought-after session players in the music industry, working with such all-time great talents as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Kahn, Howard Jones and TWISTED SISTER.

While living in New York City, Reb hooked up with his future bandmate, bassist and frontman Kip Winger. Reb and Kip formed the band WINGER and the rest is history. The two proved to be incredible writing partners, crafting multiple platinum records that featured no less than six Top 40 singles. With music that was commercial yet complex.

After WINGER went on a hiatus in the '90s, Beach's career continued thanks to collaborations with Alice Cooper, DOKKEN and NIGHT RANGER, and he debuted as a solo artist in 2002 with the album "Masquerade".

Following the WINGER reunion in the '00s, Reb heard that David Coverdale was looking for a new guitarist for WHITESNAKE. He reached out to him and since 2003, Reb has toured the world with the band as well as released multiple albums with them, including "Good To Be Bad", "Forevermore", "The Purple Album" and the recent "Flesh & Blood", plus a number of live albums.

Beach released an instrumental solo album, "A View From The Inside", in November 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl.