Doogie White

Early life and career

White was born in Motherwell. He formed La Paz with guitarist Chic McSherry in 1984, playing around Scotland for four years and releasing two albums on cassette, before in 1988 joining melodic rock combo Midnight Blue, cutting one album (released on Zero Records exclusively in Japan).

A trip to Japan in 1991 singing with Praying Mantis in a NWOBHM revival tour followed.

Rainbow

After a demo tape forwarded to Ritchie Blackmore's management a few years earlier sat in a box for a few years, Candice Night discovered it and presented it to Blackmore when he was looking for singers to audition for Rainbow. Consequently, White was asked to audition for Rainbow, subsequently joining the band in 1994. He had also auditioned for metal bands Pink Cream 69 and Iron Maiden, losing out to Wolfsbane's Blaze Bayley.

To indicate how quickly his fortunes had changed in the year since meeting Blackmore, when Rainbow played the Labbatt's Apollo in Hammersmith, London in November 1995, he joked with the audience that the last time he was at the venue only a few years before, he was selling hotdogs in the lobby.

Just before the Rainbow job, White had been busy laying down tracks with Cozy Powell and Neil Murray for a solo Powell project.

Other professional activities

After the end of the Rainbow in 1997, he then worked with former Midnight Blue guitarist Alex Dickson with the intention of securing a solo deal. Sessions on several tribute releases were next, the Whitesnake tribute Snakebites, and several tracks included on 666 – Number of the Beast a two-volume tribute to Iron Maiden out on Deadline. White also guested on Nikolo Kotzev's conceptual Nostradamus 2001 release.

A contribution to Royal Hunt bassist Steen Morgensen's solo project Arrival (under the moniker Cornerstone) was released in late 2000. A further series of albums were produced this time with White's creative input. White also joined Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, touring through South America in late 2001, while Attack (2002) was White's first studio effort with the Swede.

Once Upon Our Yesterdays was the next Cornerstone album, and a set of dates for the band across Europe marked their live debut. In 2003, White was once again hired by Praying Mantis to provide vocals for half of the songs of their album The Journey Goes On.

In 2005, White fronted another Malmsteen opus, titled Unleash The Fury. In this year, he also recorded an album with guitarist Bill Liesegang under the Liesegang/White moniker. He also put together a part-time band with Mostly Autumn personnel monikered White Noise. A DVD from their support stint in the UK with Uriah Heep featured a live airing of "Tarot Woman" as well as other Rainbow tracks.

In 2007, the fourth Cornerstone album, Two Tales of One Tomorrow was released. Later the same year, White replaced Tony Martin as the frontman of the German band Empire. Empire released their fourth album Chasing Shadows in November, with White handling all vocal duties. On 26 February 2008, White announced on his website that he would no longer be a member of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force.

On 20 December 2008, White was announced to be the new singer for NWOBHM band Tank. Tank's first album with White as lead singer is titled War Machine and was released in October 2010. In 2009, White was performing with La Paz again, as well as Tank. He has also recorded the vocals for an English version of the latest album by Argentinian rockers Rata Blanca.

He performed with Jon Lord twice, stepping in for Lord's regular singer Steve Balsamo. On 1 September 2009, White sang vocal parts in Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the opening night of the Fall Arts Fest in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. On 23 June 2010 he performed with Lord again, this time in Luxembourg during the Classic Rock Night with Big Band Opus 78.

In 2010, White participated in a tribute album titled Mister Bolin's Late Night Revival, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased tracks written by Tommy Bolin prior to his death in 1976. The CD included other artists such as HiFi Superstar, Eric Martin, Troy Luccketta, Jeff Pilson, Randy Jackson, Rachel Barton, Rex Carroll, Derek St. Holmes, Kimberley Dahme, and The 77s. A percentage of the proceeds from this project will benefit the Jackson Recovery Centers.

In 2011, White released an album with original material with German band Demon's Eye, titled The Stranger Within. White released his first solo album, titled As Yet Untitled in October 2011. He also completed an album of new material and reworked old songs with his first band La Paz. This album was called Granite and was released in February 2012. Tank released a second album with White on vocals, War Machine, in 2012. A La Paz album with all new songs titled The Dark and the Light was released in May 2013. White has recently recorded an album with Michael Schenker titled Bridge The Gap, to be released in November 2013. He is currently recording an album with Vinny Appice, Marco Mendoza and Iggy Gwadera. In 2015, White released another album with Demon's Eye, titled Under The Neon and collaborated in the second Stardust Reverie Project album titled Proclamation of Shadows singing the tunes "410 Chelsea Street" and "Bring me the Hat of the Wizard from the West" (Doogie appears in the video made for this song).

Band timeline

Discography

Cornerstone

Cornerstone is a hard rock band formed by former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White and former Royal Hunt bassist Steen Mogensen. Other musicians have been added to that core including guitarists Jacob Kjaer, Kasper Damgaard and drummer Allan Sorensen. The band has put out four studio albums and one live double compact disc release.

Discography

Videography