David Coverdale appears to have set a time frame for retiring, following a long period of going back and forth: after a commemoration of Whitesnake's mega-hit self-titled 1987 album.

"I've got the 30th anniversary of my real big album next year," Coverdale told Rolling Stone following his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple on April 8.

The singer first said he would retire after the tour in support of The Purple Album, a return to the music from his tenure in the Mark III and IV editions of Deep Purple. Then, when that project and tour became well-received successes, Coverdale seemed to have a change of heart.

"So I thought, well, this will be my farewell album. Glad I came in!" Coverdale added. "But it did so f---ing well, it's like now, I'm looking at retiring next year on the 30th anniversary of the 1987 album."

His plans apparently do not include a deluxe reissue of Whitesnake, an eight-times platinum hit that reached No. 2. "The only people who didn't congratulate me on this award are Universal, so f--- 'em," he noted.

The Purple Album grew out of two different attempts to reunite with former bandmates in Deep Purple – first with Jon Lord before the organist's death in 2012, and then with long-estranged guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Lord, who was suffering from pancreatic cancer, died before that reunion could happen. "I said, 'Tell him I'm there for him,'" Coverdale lamented. "Sadly, he didn't recover."

A tentative plan to work with Blackmore emerged out of their shared grief over Lord's passing, but that never came to fruition either. Ultimately, Coverdale had a reworked lineup of Whitesnake record the music, and then saw The Purple Album become his third Top 20 U.K. album since Whitesnake.

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