Former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg has canceled his 2026 tour dates due to unexpected health issues.
His My Whitesnake Years tour with special guests Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Journey, Thin Lizzy) and former UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore was set to begin Monday (Aug. 3) in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The outing included dates in New York, Pittsburgh, Nashville and was scheduled to run throughout the month wrapping up in Atlanta, Georgia on Aug. 23.
Why Adrian Vandenberg is Canceling His U.S. Tour
“Never in my roughly 60-year long career as a touring/ gigging guitar player [have] I had to cancel a show or tour. Not even when in 1987 I had my face totally ripped open in an early morning traffic accident in New York,” he wrote on social media. “I still played the show that evening because I absolutely did not want to miss playing a sold out show at the legendary Madison Square Garden.”
“Needless to say I’m really, really sorry to have to announce that I’m strongly urged by the medical specialists involved to not do this upcoming USA tour at this point,” the guitarist added. “Right now, it’d be just too short after a bacterial infection that invaded my body and that needs to get taken care of right away. Those creepy bad boys need to get their treacherous asses kicked out of my body ASAP.”.
He says that the tour dates will be rescheduled and fans can watch the official Vandenberg website for further details. You can see Adrian’s entire statement below.
What Adrian Thinks About Whitesnake’s Legacy
Vandenberg’s tour was set to pay tribute to the years he spent working with David Coverdale, touring with the iconic vocalist and Whitesnake for their mammoth 1987 album and later collaborating with David on additional records, including 1989’s Slip of the Tongue. Though the singer announced his retirement last year, Vandenberg understands why fans remain so engaged with the music.
READ MORE: Five Rock Legends Who Said Farewell in 2025
“I think it’s timeless, especially because it didn’t really follow trends. You know, it always stayed more or less rooted in the in the blues rock of the ’70s, and in soul in blues,” he told UCR recently. “And in my opinion, that makes it timeless. You know, right now, whenever we play Whitesnake stuff, more and more 17, 18, 20 and 25-year-olds show up during the shows, and they go just as batshit as everybody else.”
“In my opinion, there’s no substitute for the emotion that rock usually gives you, unlike like a lot of other kind of [music],” he adds. “You know, there’s a lot of stuff from the ’80s that was pretty good at the time, but in my opinion, did not stand the test of time. And of course, you know, as we all know, Whitesnake has been around since the ’70s, so it it had already proven its timeless worth.”
Whitesnake Albums Ranked
David Coverdale was seven albums into his band’s career when a power ballad catapulted them to MTV and radio stardom. This is their story before and after.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
