Fans mourn the passing of the beloved Tawny Kitaen, immortalised as the sultry, glamorous star of Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again.
Actress and model Tawny Kitaen, a star of several classic 80s’ hard-rock videos, including Whitesnake’s 1989 banga, Here I go Again, passed away last Friday morning in her Newport Beach home.
The cause of the 59-year-old’s death has not been revealed by her daughters, Daughters Wynter Merin Finley, and Raine Finley.
Wynter Merin Finley and Raine Finley confirmed the video vixen’s death on Saturday morning via Kitaen’s Instagram account, thanking “her fans and her friends, for always showing her such support and love“.
Born Julie E. Kitaen in San Diego, California, the actress and model memorably graced the cover of heavy metal band RATT’s self-titled 1983 album.
In 1984, she appeared on their follow-up triple-platinum album Out of the Cellar. At the time, Kitaen was dating RATT guitarist Robbin Crosby, who she had met during high school.
Kitaen spoke last year to podcaster Mitch Lafon about her relationship with Crosby. She described the guitarist as “the love of my life,” who she stayed in contact with until he died in 2002.
After a string of RATT album covers, Kitaen went on to star in many legendary 80s music videos, including Whitesnake videos Is this Love and The Deeper the Love.
Kitaen magnum-opus, however, was her role in the Whitesnake video Here I Go Again, where she sensually laid across the hoods of two Jaguar XJs, and canoodled with frontman David Coverdale to whom she was briefly married from 1989 to 1991.
The song, produced by the eminent Martin Birch, owes its success in large part to Kitaen. The song hit number one almost immediately following the release of its music video in 1987 — five years after the song was initially released. Coverdale shared a tweet on Saturday, expressing his condolences for the ‘sad, unexpected’ passing of his ex-wife.
Kitaen’s sultry looks and ginger hair captured the eyes and hearts of generations of music fans. Her image pervaded MTV, and she was widely recognised as the woman of heavy metal.
In 1984, Kitaen rose to even greater prominence as an actress when she portrayed Tom Hank’s bride-to-be in the comedy Bachelor Party. Later, she scored a role as Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriend in the iconic Seinfeld episode “The Nose Job”.
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Kitaen’s fans have expressed their devastation with the star’s death. Her heavy metal grace and glamour has been admired for almost forty years, immortalised by the many music videos she graced.
There was only one Tawny Kitaen. ♥️ #RIPTawnyKitaen pic.twitter.com/eTqM8cEqmS
— Jғᴏ (Wɪɴᴄʜᴇsᴛᴇʀ) (@squee_machine) May 8, 2021
