Vivian Campbell Talks Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Riverdogs, Shadow King – 2025

In a recent interview on “dopeYEAH Talk,” guitarist Vivian Campbell talked about Dio, Whitesnake, Riverdogs, Shadow King and Def Leppard. You can watch the entire interview via the embedded YouTube clip below (a clip from a full in bloom interview with Adrian Vandenberg has been provided as well).

When Vivian Campbell joined Whitesnake in 1987, he stepped into a band that was suddenly massive worldwide off the back of the self‑titled *Whitesnake* album, even though he hadn’t played on the record itself. David Coverdale rebuilt the group for the tour with a lethal, MTV‑ready lineup: Campbell and Adrian Vandenberg on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Tommy Aldridge on drums—an all‑star cast tasked with bringing John Sykes’ studio parts to life on some of the biggest stages of the late ’80s. The shows were huge, the image was cranked to full glam, and from the outside it looked like a dream gig, but inside the camp there were creative tensions and personal frictions that made it clear Campbell wasn’t going to be there forever. If you want to hear him dig into that period alongside stories from Dio, Def Leppard, Riverdogs, and Shadow King, check out the full interview.

full in bloom interview w/ Whitesnake Guitarist Adrian Vandenberg