1980s Video Vixen Tawny Kitaen Has Died

May 18. 2021

Tawny Kitaen

80s video vixen, Tawny Kitaen, famous for her stunning looks and appearances in the Whitesnake music videos "Here I Go Again" "Is This Love" and "Still Of The Night", then several b-movies, has passed away (May 7, 2021). She was 59-years-old. Kitaen's cause of death has not been determined. Kitaen had a history of drug use and alcoholism, for which she had been arrested in the past and sentenced to rehab.

Kitaen was married to Dave Coverdale, 69, who is the frontman of rock group Whitesnake. The couple were married for two years (February 1989- April 1991). For so many, Tawny and Dave were a symbol of the music and videos of the 1980s that sold millions of copies.

The two fell out a long time ago, which is regretable. Recently, Kitaen posted a lengthy item on Instagram expressing anger at Coverdale for not letting her use clips of the 1980s Whitesnake videos she appeared in, as a part of posts on her social networking page.

Tawny Kitaen

To use the financially valuable clips without permission was constituted copyright infringement. Kitaen blamed Coverdale for copyright infringement notices she received from Instagram this year, who deleted the posts containing her in the Whitesnake videos.

Kitaen also posted a video complaining about her feud with Coverdale. In the video she was tearful and slurring her words, as if intoxicated. It is clear she was heartbroken over what was transpiring. She was crying and confused. She also seemed lonely. I felt bad for her watching the videos of her distress.

Kitaen also underwent a lot of plastic surgery in trying to preserve her famous looks and received the standard pain medicines associated with said procedures. This may have contributed to her condition in the videos. She was not happy with how she looked, as many famous women struggle with aging when their looks are their trademark. Tawny was beautiful and didn't need all that work.

Tawny Kitaen and Dave Coverdale in the 1980s. They dated for four years then were married for two.

"Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love" were huge radio hits and the videos were very popular. The songs are played to this day on rock and adult contemporary radio stations. The songs have appeared in commercials. The music has netted Coverdale, his band and songwriters a fortune. The group still tours as well.

Many people state Tawny was a nice person and she did come across as very sweet. She gave birth to two daughters, who were her pride and joy. It’s very telling that she stated she preferred motherhood to fame.

Hollywood has damaged so many people who went into the industry to live their dreams and ended up severely damaged. It’s sad to see people suffer under those conditions.

Tawny Kitaen in the very famous Whitesnake video "Here I Go Again"

A post Tawny made during the pandemic reveals she had regrets about her love life. She stated she wished her first love, Ratt rock group frontman, Robin Crosby, were here. He died in 2002 of AIDS-related pneumonia and a heroin overdose. Crosby expressed the fact he was happy he did what he wanted in his career in living his dreams, but the question is at what cost. The Hollywood lifestyle destroyed him and at a young age.

That set did a lot of hard living in the 1980s and 1990s and in ways that brought them so much pain. So many from that era did not walk away from fame unscathed, bearing the scars of addiction, and damage to their health, minds and relationships.

It’s also sad that Tawny and Dave hadn’t made peace with each other before she died (he did send his condolences on Twitter, saddened by her passing). In one of Tawny’s last posts on Instagram, she stated she was writing a book about her life and the problems they experienced during their relationship.