Croatian singer and multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusić recently explained why the planned “Whitesnake Experience” project was canceled after David Coverdale’s lawyer intervened. He shared the details during an interview with Rolling Stone Brasil.
Jelusić addressed rumors surrounding the project, clarifying that the live shows never actually took place despite fan speculation.
“Whitesnake Experience never happened,” Jelusić said. “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.”
He went on to explain the background of his relationship with David Coverdale and how the idea for a one-time show originally came together.
“I’ll tell you the story,” Jelusić continued. “I’m always afraid to open this topic because everybody was assuming I was gonna carry the torch in Whitesnake. 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.”
Jelusić noted that the project was initially intended to be a single performance with Coverdale’s blessing, featuring several other Whitesnake members.
“So we were supposed to do one show,” Jelusić explained. “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.”
However, during a press conference in Belgrade, bassist Marco Mendoza made statements that led the media to believe a new permanent project was forming.
“So we came to Belgrade to do the press conference,” Jelusić said. “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.’”
Following the press conference, the musicians received a legal warning from Coverdale’s representative, leading to the cancellation of the show.
“And we all get a pretty serious e-mail from David’s lawyer,” Jelusić recalled. “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.”
Despite subsequent discussions and performances with other former members, Jelusić emphasized that he will not move forward with any such project without Coverdale’s explicit approval.
“And then I saw Marco,” Jelusić added. “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. So that’s the story of Whitesnake Experience. That never happened. It never existed.”
Jelusić’s comments are best understood in the context of his brief but significant time with Whitesnake and the band’s plans following Coverdale’s decision to end its touring career.
Coverdale announced Jelusić as a new member of the band in July 2021 after the group had first seen him perform in Zagreb two years earlier.
“I am absolutely delighted to welcome the extremely gifted DINO JELUSICK to Whitesnake,” Coverdale said in the announcement. “We’ve had our eyes & ears on him since we played Zagreb together 2 years ago. You’re going to love him!” Jelusić joined the band as a vocalist and keyboardist, with the announcement adding further attention to his role in Whitesnake’s final touring era.
Coverdale had already described Whitesnake’s next major tour as his farewell run. The singer said in 2021 that he intended to make the upcoming European and U.K. dates his final Whitesnake tour, although he initially indicated that he might continue working on other musical projects.
Whitesnake’s farewell tour began in Dublin on May 10, 2022. The touring lineup included longtime members Tommy Aldridge, Joel Hoekstra, Marco Mendoza and Michele Luppi, alongside newer additions such as Jelusić and Tanya O’Callaghan.
The farewell run was later cut short by health-related issues affecting Coverdale and other members. Whitesnake’s final show took place in June 2022, years before Coverdale formally announced his retirement from live performance. That history helps explain why a proposed project involving former members could quickly attract attention while remaining dependent on Coverdale’s authorization.
Thus, although Jelusić, Mendoza and other former Whitesnake musicians have continued to perform songs from the band’s catalog, Jelusić has made clear that he does not regard “Whitesnake Experience” as an existing band or an authorized continuation of Whitesnake.
