Doug Aldrich Is Still Stunned Over Dee Snider’s Insult

Former Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich says he remains confused as to why Dee Snider took a shot at him on Twitter earlier this month, adding "I don't want that kind of press. I mean, I felt like I was in a tabloid for a second."

He admits now, in a new talk with Eddie Trunk's SiriusXM satellite radio program, that the whole episode "hit me out of the blue." Aldrich says he was up late, looking for old guitars on eBay, when he got a message about Snider's post. "I went on there, and I was just, like, 'That is just bizarre, man. What is up with that?' ... Everybody knows Dee is a super-smart cat, he's a huge star, and I just thought, 'This is weird.' It was, like, he was not educated at all and just kind of spouted out this thing. So I just tried to educate him a little bit of where I came from with Whitesnake and then I just tagged it with a little smackdown."

Aldrich was with David Coverdale's band from 2002-14, a period which included Whitesnake's most recent studio albums, 2008's Good to be Bad and 2011's Forevermore, and concert releases such as 2013's Made In Japan. He left to explore separate projects like Revolution Saints and because -- as he told Mitch Lafon -- he and Coverdale "weren't on the same page." Revolution Saints also includes Night Ranger's Jack Blades and Journey's Deen Castronovo.

"Look, man, everybody knows what I've done with Whitesnake," Aldrich told Trunk. "I'm super proud of what I did with Whitesnake, and I definitely put my stamp on the band. It's unfortunate that I couldn't work it out schedule wise and I had to leave, but I'm very proud of what David and I did -- and David is my bro. It's all good. Dee can talk about other guys to them, but he was talking about me and Whitesnake, and he didn't know what he was talking about."

Back on Feb. 9, Snider asked his 124,000 followers on Twitter, "What Whitesnake album of importance did @Douglas_Aldrich play on?," adding that he was "tired of musicians who joined famous bands after their heyday claiming they are from those bands. They had nothing to do with success!" Aldrich responded in kind, telling Snider that he "did my best to keep the band moving forward" and "was blessed to compose 30 tunes," before adding, "You are a total jackass though."

Part of Doug Aldrich's confusion over Snider's comments is that the two really don't know one another, despite years in the business. "We've done gigs together, Twisted and Whitesnake, (but) I never really met Dee that I can remember," Aldrich added. "We've done a couple of tribute things together where we did -- I think we did "Crazy Train" for a tribute record together and it turned out pretty cool. But I've got no problem with the guy."

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