David Coverdale Says Whitesnake Classic Was Written For Tina Turner

When it was released in 1987, Whitesnake’s “Is This Love” hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and became one of the band’s most-requested songs. But as it turns out, the song wasn’t meant to be recorded by the band.

Frontman David Coverdale has revealed the ballad was actually written for another recording artist. “The original idea was for Tina Turner,” he says. “My friends and associates at EMI Records were looking for songs to follow up Tina’s astonishing story. The album with ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ was huge, global, and they were looking for songs. And they knew I was going away to do the old correlation of song ideas and said, ‘If you come up with anything that you think might be good for Tina’ — ’cause they knew I was a huge fan — let us know. So that was the idea — the original idea for ‘Is This Love’ was for Tina.”

“Is This Love” is featured on Whitesnake’s “Greatest Hits,” which dropped on May 6th.

Would the song have been as big if Tina Turner had recorded it?