Adrian Vandenberg explains why he reformed Vandenberg without his original bandmates

Adrian Vandenberg explains why he reformed Vandenberg without his original bandmates

Vandenberg and former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg was recently interviewed by media journalist Mark Dean for Antihero Magazine. Vandenberg just released their fourth studio album 2020 last month via Mascot Records with a line-up that includes Adrian Vandenberg on guitar and Ronnie Romero on lead vocals.

The group previously released three studio albums in the ’80s consisting of Vandenberg (1982), Heading For A Storm (1983) and Alibi (1985) with Adrian Vandenberg on guitar, Bert Heerink on lead vocals, Dick Kemper on bass and Jos Zoomer on drums.

Antihero Magazine asked Adrian Vandenberg whether he had any desire to reunite with the original members when he reactivated the group. The guitarist replied: “Well, the problem was first of all, I think Ronnie Romero is as good… Bert Heerink, the original singer, was a good singer, but to me Ronnie Romero is in a different league. I mean, if he’s good enough for Ritchie Blackmore, he’s good enough for me. But the main reason why I would never ever consider it anymore, is that… I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but about six, seven years ago, the original Vandenberg members filed a lawsuit against me that last five years. And six court cases in which they tried to claim my name and to prohibit me from using my family name.

They said we own your family name and… I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. So yeah, that really destroyed the good memory we had about Vandenberg. And we had a great time at a time, so to me it was very strange 30 years later for them to try to claim my name and to claim the band name and stuff. And they lost all the cases, of course. But as you can imagine, animosity… especially when there’s a lot of lying going on in the courtroom and I thought, oh geez, man, this can’t be serious. Initially I thought it was a joke. When the first subpoena landed on my doormat I thought, what the fuck is this? This has got to be a joke, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.

So yeah, that didn’t even… I’d rather add Justin Bieber than to join me with those guys. It’s sad. You see it happen in a lot of bands, but I’ve never seen it like 30 years later, you know? That’s just really strange.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Adrian Vandenberg by media journalist Mark Dean at Antihero Magazine‘s website.

Vandenberg‘s “Friday Night” video (from Heading For A Storm album):

Vandenberg‘s “Freight Train” video (from 2020 album):