the Snakes

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = The Snakes

| alias =

| image =

| caption =

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Norway
United Kingdom

| genre = Heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock

| years_active = 1997–1999

| label = Pony Canyon

| website =

| past_members = Jørn Lande
John West
Bernie Marsden
Micky Moody
Neil Murray
Cozy Powell
Sid Ringsby
Willy Bendiksen

| associated_acts = The Company of Snakes, Whitesnake, Vagabond, Masterplan, TNT, Beyond Twilight, Ark, Rainbow, Black Sabbath

}}

The Snakes were a British-Norwegian hard rock band, formed by former Whitesnake members Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody in 1997. The line-up consisted of guitarists Marsden and Moody with Norwegian musicians, vocalist Jørn Lande, bassist Sid Ringsby, who later joined the Norwegian band TNT, and drummer Willy Bendiksen. The band released one live album, one studio album and broke up in 1999.

Biography

The Snakes were formed by original Whitesnake guitarists Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody, exclusively performing Whitesnake songs.{{cite web |last1=Rivadavia |first1=Eduardo |title=The Snakes Biography by Eduardo Rivadavia |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-snakes-mn0003530211#biography |website=Allmusic |access-date=30 November 2024}} Initially, the project was called 'Saints and Sinners' and briefly featured other former Whitesnake bandmates, including bassist Neil Murray and drummer Cozy Powell and also American vocalist John West but this never materialised. In August 1998, the Once Bitten album was released in Japan on the Pony Canyon label. Former Vagabond vocalist Jørn Lande was hired and TNT guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø produced for the band. TNT's touring keyboardist Dag Stokke engineered the album. A live album Live in Europe was released in December 1998, with recordings of live performances of Whitesnake songs.