WHITESNAKE and WINGER guitarist Reb Beach has confirmed that he will play guitar for THE DEAD DAISIES’ on their upcoming European tour. Beach will be filling in for Doug Aldrich, who was recently diagnosed with a treatable form of throat cancer.On Thursday, September 26, Beach took to his social media to write: “Hey everyone! As you may have heard, my longtime friend and bandmate from WHITESNAKE, Doug Aldrich, has recently been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer. Doug is a fighter, and I know he’s going to make a full recovery, but he’s taking some much-needed time off to focus on his health.”In the meantime, he’s asked me to step in for him with THE DEAD DAISIES on the final leg of their European tour, and I’m truly honored to do so. I can’t wait to hit the stage with that killer band, some of which are good friends of mine!! Most importantly, I want to wish Doug all the strength and a speedy recovery. We’re all behind you, brother, and we know you’ll be back in no time!”See you out there soon! #GetWellDoug #TheDeadDaisies #RockFamily”.Aldrich left WHITESNAKE 10 years ago, saying in a statement that he “had several recording and live commitments,” so he “needed a more flexible schedule to conclude these before going full force as normal.” He added: “Unfortunately, my schedule was not workable.”Having also played with LION, HOUSE OF LORDS, BAD MOON RISING, HURRICANE and Glenn Hughes, Aldrich joined THE DEAD DAISIES in 2016 and can be heard on that band’s last five albums, 2016’s “Make Some Noise”, 2018’s “Burn It Down”, 2021’s “Holy Ground”, 2022’s “Radiance” and 2024’s “Light ‘Em Up”.Beach released his long-in-the-works instrumental solo album, “A View From The Inside”, in November 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl.Beach is one of the indisputable guitar giants of the current hard rock scene. His resume with ’80s/’90s mega-stars WINGER alone would earn him this distinction, but his legacy is cemented by his current membership and work with the legendary WHITESNAKE, his past efforts with DOKKEN, and his recent release with supergroup BLACK SWAN, also featuring Jeff Pilson, Robin MacAuley and Matt Starr.Influenced by the legendary hard rockers of the ’70s, Reb spent his teen years jamming along with the greats of that era like AEROSMITH and MONTROSE, but it was when he discovered more progressive players like Steve Morse, Allan Holdsworth and Larry Carlton that his musical world really opened up. The complexity and the speed of the more prog style of playing was a unique challenge compared to the blues-based playing of most musicians of that era. The discovery of these players was ultimately the catalyst that drove his playing to the level he is now so well known to music fans the world over for. Beach eventually graduated from his home practice space to the Berklee College Of Music, but after a couple of semesters he moved on and soon became one of the most sought-after session players in the music industry, working with such all-time great talents as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Kahn, Howard Jones and TWISTED SISTER.While living in New York City, Reb hooked up with his future bandmate, bassist and frontman Kip Winger. Reb and Kip formed the band WINGER and the rest is history. The two proved to be incredible writing partners, crafting multiple platinum records that featured no less than six Top 40 singles. with music that was commercial yet complex.After WINGER went on a hiatus in the ’90s, Beach’s career continued thanks to collaborations with Alice Cooper, DOKKEN and NIGHT RANGER, and he debuted as a solo artist in 2002 with the album “Masquerade”.Following the WINGER reunion in the ’00s, Reb heard that David Coverdale was looking for a new guitarist for WHITESNAKE. He reached out to him and since 2003, Reb has toured the world with the band as well as released multiple albums with them, including “Good To Be Bad”, “Forevermore”, “The Purple Album” and the recent “Flesh & Blood”, plus a number of live albums.Hey everyone! As you may have heard, my longtime friend and bandmate from Whitesnake, Doug Aldrich, has recently been…Posted by Reb Beach on Thursday, September 26, 2024