Whitesnake’s ‘Here I Go Again’ Tops Rock Chart After Tawny Kitaen’s Death
Whitesnake’s classic single “Here I Go Again” has topped the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart following the death of Tawny Kitaen, who starred in the song’s iconic music video.
Kitaen became the essential MTV video vixen after “Here I Go Again” debuted in 1987. In a silky, white nightie, Kitaen seductively danced on the hood of two cars in between cuts of Whitesnake performing onstage. Shortly after its release, “Here I Go Again” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nearly 35 years after airing for the first time, “Here I Go Again” is No. 1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. Spending its first-ever week on the chart, the Whitesnake power ballad came in ahead of Five Finger Death Punch’s “A Little Bit Off” to take the top spot.
"Marty Callner, the director of all the Whitesnake videos, had it all planned out — had the girl, had everything. The night before the shoot, David said, 'Will you come with me to Marty, the director of the video's house? We have to go over the story boards.' So we went over to his Bel Air mansion, and he opens up the door, and without even saying hi or hello, he pointed at me and he said, 'You're her,’” Kitaen told Ouch, You’re on My Hair about being cast in the video.
“I’m, like, 'I'm who?' And he said, 'You're the girl.' And I was already an actress. I had turned down a couple of bands from not being in their video, because I was an actress. 'I'm not gonna do a rock video. Are you kidding?' That was the mentality.”
Kitaen died at her Newport Beach home on May 7. She was 59.
“Woke up to some very sad, unexpected news…my sincere condolences to her children, her family, friends & fans,” David Coverdale posted to Facebook on May 8.