While rock and blues guitarist Bernie Marsden – born on May 7, 1951, in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England – had an extensive solo career, he is best known for his work with Whitesnake as well as Deep Purple offshoot band Paice Ashton Lord and several others. His musical journey began in his teens when he played with several local Buckingham bands before briefly joining UFO in 1972. His tenure with the band was brief – he was out in 1973 - and he then joined the band Wild Turkey the following year. His next project was as a member of drummer Cozy Powell’s Hammer, which lasted until 1975, when he joined the group, Babe Ruth. After two albums with them, he was then asked to join Paice Ashton Lord, a group that was comprised of drummer Ian Paice and keyboardist Jon Lord (both were former members of Deep Purple at the time) as well as keyboardist Tony Ashton. The group was popular thanks to Deep Purple’s loyal fans, but they split up while recording their second album in Munich, Germany. While still in Munich, Bernie Marsden met former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale and since both were currently available, they – along with guitarist Micky Moody - decided to form a group in 1978 called David Coverdale’s White Snake, which was eventually shortened to Whitesnake. The group’s first release was the Snakebite EP (1978), which was expanded to an album in some territories by adding songs from Coverdale’s second solo album Northwinds. Later that year, Whitesnake released Trouble, their full-length debut album, which reached number 50 on the UK Albums chart. In 1979, Bernie Marsden released his solo debut album, And About Time, Too, as well as playing on Whitesnake’s sophomore album Lovehunter. He recorded his second solo album, Look at Me Now (1981) while also working on Whitesnake’s Ready an’ Willing (1980), Live… in the Heart of the City (1980) and Come an’ Get It (1981). Bernie Marsden’s last album with Whitesnake was 1982’s Saints & Sinners, which featured “Here I Go Again,” which he co-wrote with David Coverdale. Whitesnake would later re-record the song in 1987 and it became a worldwide smash. After leaving Whitesnake, Bernie Marsden declined an invitation from Paul McCartney to join Wings and focused on his own career. He led several bands in his post-Whitesnake career, recording and touring with groups such as Alaska (1984-1988), Borderline (1993), The Moody Marsden Band (1993-2002), The Snakes (1996-2001) and The Company of Snakes (1999). ), and M3 (2004), which featured his former Whitesnake bandmates Micky Moody and Neil Murray. Bernie Marsden focused on the blues for his own solo albums which included Tribute to Peter Green: Green and Blues (1995), Big Boy Blue (2003), Bernie Plays Rory (2009), and Shine (2014), which featured musical assistance from Joe Bonamassa and David Coverdale. Bernie Marsden’s next long-term project was the Kings trilogy – a tribute to Albert King, Freddie King, and B.B. King – which included the albums Kings (2021), Chess (2021), and Trios (2022). Bernie Marsden died of bacterial meningitis on August 24, 2023, at the age of 72.
