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  • Eddie Van Halen ‘Guitar God’ Title Slipping?

    Eddie Van Halen ‘Guitar God’ Title Slipping?

    When Eddie Van Halen gave an interview in Billboard magazine recently he dogged Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, despite the fact that one of those guys is still actually in his band.

    But Eddie Van Halen also that he doesn’t listen to music. “I don’t listen to anything,” the guitar god said. He noted that, even when he drives, he doesn’t listen to music. “I prefer the sound of the motor,” he claims.

    “It’s an odd thing, but I’ve been this way my whole life,” Van Halen said. “I couldn’t make a contemporary record if I wanted to, because I don’t know what contemporary music sounds like.”

    The real stunner came when Eddie Van Halen claimed he doesn’t remember writing his own hits.

    “I have no memory of coming up with any of those riffs,” Eddie said. “Even the stuff I wrote for the last record, I don’t remember. It just comes to me. I never sit down and decide to write a song. I’ve never done that.”

    Eddie does claim to remember that Michael Anthony can’t play bass without a primer from Eddie.

    “Every note Mike ever played, I had to show him how to play,” Van Halen said. “Before we’d go on tour, he’d come over with a video camera and I’d have to show him how to play all the parts.”

    Sammy Hagar was having none of that.

    “For Eddie to say he had to show [Michael] what to play and had to teach him all those songs, that is the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. I was in that band for eleven years, and there was never a video camera involved of Eddie showing him what to play.”

    Defending Michael Anthony is one thing. But Sammy went further, claiming that it is Eddie’s playing that was slipping.

    “Eddie would tell him what to play once in a while, and say, ‘No, Mike, don’t play with that many notes. Just stay on one note — boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom — so that I can fuck up and nobody will know it.’ It was that kind of shit. And I am telling you straight up, especially on the ’04 reunion tour, if Mike would have played any more than one note, it would have been showing that Eddie wasn’t playing the right chords again and again and again; I couldn’t sing to ’em, you couldn’t play bass to ’em.”

    If Eddie says he can’t remember writing his own songs, and doesn’t like listening to music — plus Sammy claims Eddie screws up so bad live that you can’t sing or play anything but rudimentary bass with him — is Eddie Van Halen’s “Guitar God” title at risk?

  • Sammy Hagar Pounds Eddie Van Halen for Statements About Michael Anthony

    Sammy Hagar sounded like a man who was open to a reasonable compromise late last year.

    “I’m honored to be a part of [Van Halen],” Hagar told Rolling Stone. “I’m sorry about the bad blood, but I’m totally honored.”

    He said that writing music with Joe Satriani in Chickenfoot was one of his best experiences. I’d rather write a record with him than anyone else,” Sammy said. But it was who he compared Satch to that was noteworthy.

    “Joe Satriani is my favorite writer to work with since Eddie Van Halen,” Hagar said.

    But something has sure changed Sammy Hagar’s tune lately. And that something is Eddie Van Halen himself.

    The guitar-playing Van Halen recently told Billboard that he and David Lee Roth were certainly not “friends,” despite touring together. But it was Eddie’s statements about former Van Halen bassist and singer Michael Anthony — who is also one of Sammy Hagar’s best friends and current bandmate — that set Sammy off.

    “Every note Mike ever played, I had to show him how to play,” Van Halen said. “Before we’d go on tour, he’d come over with a video camera and I’d have to show him how to play all the parts.”

    One huge hole in the current Van Halen lineup sound is the Michael Anthony harmony vocal. Instead, that sound is present in Chickenfoot and Anthony’s current project with Sammy Hagar, The Circle. It’s very apparent where that sound comes from.

    But Eddie Van Halen even slagged that off. It’s like he can’t help himself.

    “Mike’s voice is like a piccolo trumpet. But he’s not a singer. He just has a range from hell,” Eddie says. “Mike was just born with a very high voice. I have more soul as a singer than he does. And you know, people always talk about Mike’s voice on Van Halen songs, but that’s a blend of Mike’s voice and my voice. It’s not just him.”

    Michael Anthony responded to the criticism in a very diplomatic way.

    “I am proud to say that my bass playing and vocals helped create our sound. I’ve always chosen to take the high road and stay out of the never-ending mudslinging, because I believe that it ultimately ends up hurting the Van Halen fans.”

    Sammy Hagar was not nearly as nice. During an interview, he was asked about what Eddie said about Mike. Hagar issued a blistering riposte directly to Eddie Van Halen.

    “Fuck you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You’re a liar.”

    Looks like the feel-good vibe is gone again, eh?

    Sammy Hagar once said, “I suppose I had ‘fuck me’ money before, and now I have ‘fuck you’ money.”

    Sounds like Sammy just used it.

    Here is the video of Sammy’s response. The transcription is below.

    “It’s really irritating to see them go after Mikey. Mikey didn’t do anything — ever — to Van Halen. Mikey was the most loyal guy in the band. He was the first guy there at rehearsal, the last guy to leave, the guy that was… the first guy at the gig, the guy that flew the… carried the banner, the flag, the VH banner… he carried it every night. And the horseman with the flag, the flagman on the horse in the calvary. That was Michael Anthony, okay?! [He was] a hundred percent dedicated. [He] never did anything to hurt those guys. And they try to hurt him again, and again, and again.”

    “For Eddie to say he had to show [Michael] what to play and had to teach him all those songs, that is the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. I was in that band for eleven years, and there was never a video camera involved of Eddie showing him what to play. Eddie would tell him what to play once in a while, and say, ‘No, Mike, don’t play with that many notes. Just stay on one note — boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom — so that I can fuck up and nobody will know it.’ It was that kind of shit. And I am telling you straight up, especially on the ’04 reunion tour, if Mike would have played any more than one note, it would have been showing that Eddie wasn’t playing the right chords again and again and again; I couldn’t sing to ’em, you couldn’t play bass to ’em. So… that is a lot of bullshit.”

    “I don’t know why they go after him like that. He doesn’t deserve it. He’s one of the greatest rock and roll bass players ever in the world. Michael Anthony is Top 5 rock and roll bass player in the world. Any bass player will tell you that, any musician will tell you that. Listen to him play on The Circle. He ain’t going ‘boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom’ unless it was called for.

    “Michael Anthony is a bad motherfucker. Fuck you, Eddie Van Halen, for saying that about Mikey. You’re a liar.”

  • David Lee Roth: Eddie Van Halen Finally Says What We All Knew About His Nemesis

    David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen don’t get along. That is not a shocking statement, nor new. More importantly, neither is it old news.

    Fans of Van Halen have long known that the two men just did not see eye to eye, and have not since the early 80s. Every once in a while, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen manage to get into a room, preferably not alone, and do something that somewhat approximates the voodoo they used to do so well.

    But every time a camera is present to catch the vibe in that room, the disdain in the air that it can almost be felt through the screen.

    When the current incarnation of Van Halen set out to tour behind their live album, Tokyo Dome Live in Concert, they kicked things off at Jimmy Kimmel’s place. The Jimmy Kimmel Live performance was marred by 60-year-old David Lee Roth whacking himself in the nose with a twirling microphone stand before singing his first note.

    But it was the on-stage chemistry. or lack thereof, between Roth and Eddie Van Halen that stunk up the joint. Gone were the rock-bro posturing and back-to-back crowd-pleaser poses of yesteryear. It was more like watching an over-enthusiastic stripper called in for a Bar Mitzvah, with the poor embarrassed lad just praying the dance would be over.

    Eddie Van Halen has never been shy when it comes to speaking the truth about his relationship with Roth. Fans had hoped that maybe the two old me might have buried the hatchet this time. But Eddie has spoken again, and it sounds like third verse, same as the first.

    “He does not want to be my friend,” Eddie Van Halen told Billboard of Roth. “How can I put this: Roth’s perception of himself is different than who he is in reality. We’re not in our 20s anymore. We’re in our 60s. Act like you’re 60. I stopped coloring my hair, because I know I’m not going to be young again.”

    Not only is Eddie, a father whose son is in the band with him, not comfortable with Roth’s exuberant Peter Pan act, but the two don’t even like the same music.

    “It’s hard, because there are four people in this band, and three of us like rock and roll. And one of us likes dance music,” Eddie Van Halen said. “And that used to kind of work, but now Dave doesn’t want to come to the table.”

    Then again, Eddie also said he doesn’t listen to any music other than his own, most of the time. For decades, he’s been talking about Peter Gabriel’s So album, particularly the track “Red Rain.” Turns out that was the last album he ever bought.

    So why put up with it all? It comes down to the fact that the Van Halen brothers want to play. They’ve burned their bridges entirely with their most successful-selling vocalist Sammy Hagar, who is rich enough to never have to put up with anyone’s crap ever again. They couldn’t make it fly with anyone else. So they’re back to eating and smiling about Roth’s crap.

    “You make music for people. Otherwise, just play in your closet. And how do you reach the most people? By giving them the band that they know. To do it any other way would be selfish.”

  • Van Halen Brings Back David Lee Roth, US Tour Kicks Off This Summer

    Loyal Van Halen fans are finally getting their wish. Van Halen will go on an extensive US tour this summer with David Lee Roth back in the saddle.

    The mighty rock band kicked off their announcement with an exclusive performance last Monday on Hollywood Boulevard, just outside ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

    According to Kimmel, his show never had more ticket requests from fans than for this momentous gig. Thousands of lucky fans were able to witness the first time that the mighty rock and roll band performed live on US television with its original frontman.

    Kimmel joked with the fans before the start of the performance, entertaining them while they chanted and called for their favorite band. The crowd then went wild as Diamond Dave, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Wolfgang Van Halen and guitarist Eddie Van Halen took to the stage and started performing Panama.

    The guys started performing with the energy and enthusiasm they’re well known for, but a minor injury caused David Lee Roth to stop the action for a few minutes.

    The rocker was twirling his microphone stand minutes into the song when he accidentally clocked himself on the nose with it. Forced to stop the performance, Roth addressed the crowd first before leaving the stage.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, I cut my nose on the microphone. I apologize,” the 60-year old singer said. He returned two minutes later with a bandage across his nose.

    Roth apologized again and like a boss, promised that the band will give their fans a little something extra for their patience. “How do I look? Like f***in Hiawatha?” he jokingly asked.

    The group then started playing Panama again before tearing though “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Hot for Teacher” and their cover of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.”

    Van Halen’s long awaited tour will kick off in Seattle on July 5 before moving to Portland, California, Utah, Washington and a host of other cities before wrapping up in Los Angeles. Tickets will go on sale starting April 4 and are priced at $43 to $183.

  • Wolfgang Van Halen Does Daddy Proud

    Wolfgang Van Halen Does Daddy Proud

    Wolfgang Van Halen is a chip off the old block. While his fan base may not be as big as his famous dad’s, every diehard VH fan knows Wolfgang Van Halen birthdate, even if they don’t know Eddie’s.

    How did that come to be?

    Back in 1991, when Wolfgang William Van Halen was born, his dad wrote a song for him. It was an instrumental acoustic guitar piece that later ended up on Van Halen’s 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. It was called “316.” Wolfgang Van Halen’s birthday is March 16.

    Van Halen fans have kind of watched Wolfgang Van Halen grow up. He is the child of Eddie Van Halen and ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli. When Sammy Hagar left Van Halen for the last time in 2006 and took bassist Michael Anthony with him, Wolfgang Van Halen stepped into the empty spot. He’s been there ever since.

    Valerie Bertinelli has commented that it is touring with his son that makes Eddie Van Halen proudest.

    But Wolfie is also set to prove that he is not just slotted into Van Halen because of his dad. He also plays bass for metal band Tremonti, fronted by Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge.

    Of course, Wolfgang Van Halen knows who brought him to the dance. He is bowing out of Tremonti’s upcoming tour because it conflicts with the extensive North American tour that Van Halen is setting out on in support of their new live album Tokyo Dome Live in Concert.

    The band kicked the proceedings off with a two-night stint on Jimmy Kimmel Live, their first televised performance with David Lee Roth. Wolfgang Van Halen is right in the thick of it in this photo.

    And mom Valerie Bertinelli was right there to cheer her son on.

    And here the kickoff is — minus David Lee Roth’s nose injury. If anyone knows why Alex Van Halen chose to play the cowbell rather than a snare drum the whole song, let me know. But Wolf does hold his own, even if he does not have Michael Anthony’s signature vocal sound. For that, you have to go listen to Chickenfoot.

  • Van Halen Takes Roth to TV for First Time, Gets Him Injured

    Van Halen membership is a dangerous thing. Eddie Van Halen has had his hip replaced, parts of his tongue cut out, and lost who knows how many brain cells. Alex Van Halen famously used to keep a garbage can beside him onstage for puking in due to his outrageous drinking habits.

    Back when Sammy Hagar was with the band, the singer was one of the first rockers known for wearing a wireless headset microphone. With that mounted to his noggin, he was free to roam around the stage, even venturing into the rigging above the audience and onto catwalks. One night, Sammy was running along and smacked into a beam, knocking himself out cold. The band played on.

    But original and current vocalist David Lee Roth has been karate kicking and might-as-well-jumping ever since the 70s, with no injuries to speak of. Until now.

    Apparently Roth’s microphone spinning technique ain’t what it used to be. When viewers tuned in to see Van Halen play on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, they saw Roth with a bandage across his nose. The story goes that Roth and the Van Halen’s — Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang — were launching into Panama to open their set on Kimmel when Roth swung bad with a mic stand and whacked himself across the nose.

    Roth ran offstage to get bandaged up while the band riffed on. When he returned, Van Halen restarted Panama for the cameras. The television audience was none the wiser. But the live audience got to see the whole glorious mess.

    The Kimmel appearance was another first for Van Halen. While the band had appeared on television with Hagar in the past, this was their forst time on TV with David Lee Roth.

    Too bad the guy bashed himself his first time out.

  • Van Halen’s David Lee Roth Bashes Himself In The Nose Onstage

    Van Halen–and more specifically, singer David Lee Roth–have long been known for onstage acrobatics, but they don’t usually result in injury. All that changed on Monday when the band took over the street in front of the El Capitan Theatre and performed their first onstage gig together since 2007, all for an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

    The band has had a few lead singers in its day, but it might be safe to say that none of them have had the stage presence of Roth, who isn’t afraid to show skin, do toe-touches, or let off wild, primal screams in the middle of a song. What he was doing with his microphone when it bashed him in the nose during the performance isn’t clear, but he did have to run offstage to procure a bandage before the show could go on.

    Roth explained to the audience what had happened and thanked them for their patience, saying the band would start the song over for them.

    The band has been enjoying success as they tour the world this year, and Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, has joined them to play bass. Wolfgang recently released a statement about his time with the band, saying he is still part of his own band, Tremonti, and that they have a new album coming out soon.

    “I am still part of Tremonti and very excited for the release of Cauterize, but unfortunately am unable to participate in the upcoming dates due to my prior commitment with Van Halen for the summer tour in support of the Tokyo Dome Live In Concert album. Look forward to seeing all of the Tremonti fans on the road as soon as my schedule permits!” Wolfgang said.

    The tour should be an interesting one, if Roth’s performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live was any indication; after playing “Dance The Night Away”, he pulled a girl up on stage from the front row.

    “I got a hottie right here who’s been dancing all night. … Get her up here!” he said.

  • Van Halen: Wolfie Ditches Other Band to Tour With Dad

    The history of Van Halen as a band has many chapters. For a long-time Van Halen fan, these are familiar stories. The early days, when the band was Dave, Eddie, Michael, and Alex, and when Van Halen was at that top of their still-young game, are often considered the Golden Years of Van Halen.

    But then there were the Sammy Hagar years. Derided by some as the “Van Hagar” period, this is actually the band’s most commercially-successful chapter. They got their first Number One. They sold millions. They got really rich.

    We don’t talk about the Gary Cherone years.

    Now that David Lee Roth is back and the band is working again, things are still not what they once were. Bassist Michael Anthony, whose vocal stylings were as much a part of the signature Van Halen sound as Eddie’s guitar, has been gone ever since Hagar left. so Eddie’s son Wolfgang has been handling bass.

    By pretty much all counts, Wolfgang Van Halen holds his own just fine in the band. In fact, when he is not playing with Van Halen, Wolfgang plays bass with Tremonti, the band formed by former Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti.

    Tremonti has a new album called Cauterize. They will be touring behind that album. But Wolfgang Van Halen will not be with them on that tour. There is a schedule conflict between his Tremonti schedule and the upcoming Van Halen dates. Wolfgang knows where his bread is buttered.

    “I am still part of Tremonti and very excited for the release of Cauterize,” Wolfgang said in a statement, “but unfortunately am unable to participate in the upcoming dates due to my prior commitment with Van Halen for the summer tour in support of the Tokyo Dome Live In Concert album. Look forward to seeing all of the Tremonti fans on the road as soon as my schedule permits!”

    Tremonti has to understand. I’m sure that, given the chance to play with Van Halen, Mark Tremonti would quit his own band.

    That live album that Wolfgang mentions will be supported with an extensive North American tour. The album was recorded in Japan during the 2013 tour in support of the David Lee Roth-comeback album A Different Kind of Truth.

    The band will perform tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live to kick things off.

  • David Lee Roth Hiding a New Album?

    David Lee Roth has nine lives. The original voice of Van Halen went off on his own after Van Halen’s 1984. His campy take on the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” worked for him. He parlayed that into a pair of albums with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, which resulted in the hit “Yankee Rose.”

    Years later, Roth hooked back up with Van Halen for a short while, apparently just to make some money. Then he was gone again. After that came a fantastic bluegrass record with John Jorgensen that featured cover tunes of some of Roth’s Van Halen hits.

    Then came a real reunion with Van Halen. A treasure trove of early-Van Halen outtakes was worked into a viable batch of tunes called A Different Kind of Truth, released in 2012. Critics raved that Van Halen was back to classic form.

    Since then, fans have waited for another Van Halen album. Roth promised back in December that it looked like a new release was 18 months out, but was absolutely coming.

    Now news comes that Roth actually has a solo album in the can, waiting for who-knows-what. This news comes from John 5, who had worked with Roth back in the late 90s, before joining Marilyn Manson, and later Rob Zombie.

    John 5 told Mitch Lafon (transcribed by Henne Music):

    “[Dave and I] just made another record, and it’s, like, the ‘California Sessions’, he was calling it. And it’s 11 of the greatest songs you’ll ever hear, and it’s just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it’s unbelievable. There’s a song called Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar & Grill. And you know, just great, great songs. And hopefully sometime it’ll see the light of day. But he’s, of course, busy with Van Halen and all that stuff. But it’s an incredible record.

    “It was made not too long ago – like, probably, maybe, a year and a half ago or something like that. ‘Cause I always go over to his house and we write music and things like that. It’s a lot of fun.

    “And it’s so great. I mean, it sounds like just Dave from that Van Halen I or II or Women And Children First era … It’s really incredible. He loves it too, so maybe it’ll see the light of day sometime.”

    Image via YouTube

  • David Lee Roth To Release New Solo Album

    David Lee Roth does, in fact, have a solo album coming out soon! Reportedly he has been working on it with guitarist John 5.

    John 5, who is currently working with Rob Zombie’s band, has helped out other bands over the years, but he started out with David Lee Roth in 1998 with DLR Band. This is a great musical combo and hopefully they were able to conjure up some of that reunion magic.

    John 5 seems to think it’s possible and has a lot of confidence in the project he worked on with David Lee Roth.

    “[Dave and I] just made another record, and it’s, like, the ‘California Sessions’, [Dave] was calling it,” John 5 said of his project with David Lee Roth. “And it’s 11 of the greatest songs you’ll ever hear, and it’s just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it’s unbelievable. There’s a song called Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar & Grill. And you know, just great, great songs. And hopefully sometime it’ll see the light of day. But he’s, of course, busy with Van Halen and all that stuff. But it’s an incredible record.”

    “[The new album with David Lee Roth] was made not too long ago – like, probably, maybe, a year and a half ago or something like that,” he continued. “‘Cause I always go over to his house and we write music and things like that. It’s a lot of fun.

    John 5 went on to compliment David Lee Roth’s sound, saying it was just like it used to be. He seems to think his sound hasn’t changed much! That’s great news for David Lee Roth fans.

    “They’re all original songs. I would just go over to his [David Lee Roth’s] house during the day and write this music and then he would book the studio at night. So we would go into A&M Studios – Henson Studios, it’s called now – and we’d record. And it’s so great. I mean, it sounds like just Dave from that Van Halen I or II or Women And Children First era, [in terms of his] singing [style], and it’s incredible, man. It’s really incredible. He loves it too, so maybe it’ll see the light of day sometime.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeXjBWN8LO8

    So, what’s taking so long? I’m not a recording artist, but a year and a half seems like a lot of time between finishing an album and releasing it to the public. Maybe someone can make that part more clear? Perhaps David Lee Roth’s reported work on a project with Van Halen is taking up his time right now.

    David Lee Roth is a busy guy these days!

    Image via Facebook

  • Van Halen: Remastered Concert Footage Now Online

    The year was 1978. Brothers Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen teamed up with vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, and the history of rock music was about to change forever. That was the same year that Van Halen would release their self-titled debut album which featured the hit Runnin with the Devil and Eddie’s epic guitar solo Eruption.

    Since that time, we’ve seen Van Halen lead singers come and go. We’ve also heard more about in-band fighting than original music.

    Although fans will most likely never get a new Van Halen album that sounds as good as the classics, new upgraded concert footage of the band from Fresno, California is now available to view online, for free. You can check out a slew of clips by clicking here. The two shows are from 1978 and 1979 during the Selland Arena concerts, a part of Van Halen’s first two world tours. The footage is completely and meticulously remastered frame by frame in HD.

    You can hear tunes like On Fire, Bottoms Up, and Light Up The Sky. Yes, the concerts have been available on the web for years. However, the current clips are all excellent quality and taken directly from the original recordings.

    David Lee Roth rejoined Van Halen back in September of 2013. Eddie’s son Wolfgang has taken over bass duties. The band is reportedly working on a new album of original music. It would be Van Halen’s 13th studio album. According to the Pulse of Radio, Roth told Jim Florentine this past February, “I was up at Edward’s house three days ago, and we’re starting to put music together. We’re writing; I write lyrics routinely and the band plays together routinely, at least three times a week up at Ed’s place.”

    No official release date for the album has been set.

    Image via YouTube Screenshot

  • Eddie Van Halen Attends 2014 NAMM

    Eddie Van Halen Attends 2014 NAMM

    Eddie Van Halen was an unexpected attendee at the 2014 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) Convention in California on Wednesday. Held at the Anaheim Convention Center, photos of the Van Halen rocker have shown up around the internet throughout the week. Some attendees have posted on their Twitter pages about seeing the musician as well.

    Once married to One Day At A Time star Valerie Bertinelli, the two share a son, Wolfgang. “Wolfie,” as he is called by his mom and dad, has accompanied Eddie Van Halen on tour.

    Canadian TV personality Kevin O’Leary tweeted a picture of himself with Eddie Van Halen, as well as with Fender CEO Larry Thomas at the Fender Strat party.

    A NAMM guest named Jay Hale shared a photo someone was kind enough to shoot of him with Eddie Van Halen with his Twitter followers, too.

    Eddie Van Halen toured and recorded music for several years with David Lee Roth but the two had many serious conflicts throughout the years. Sammy Hagar joined the band in 1985. For years Van Halen built his own rendition of electric guitars. The Wolfgang is named after his and Valerie Bertinelli’s son. He endured and lost a significant portion of his tongue to cancer in 2000 and a few years later spent time in rehab for alcoholism.

    Van Halen toured Japan in 2012, and in the summer of 2013 he played at the Paso Robles, California State Fair–as seen in the video clip above.. He appeared on two tracks of LL Cool J’s album Authentic in 2013, however--Not Leaving You Tonight and We’re the Greatest. Definitely a legend in the music world, it must have been very exciting for unsuspecting fans to see him during his appearance at NAMM this past week.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • David Lee Roth Says Van Halen Working on Record

    David Lee Roth Says Van Halen Working on Record

    Grammy award winning American hard rock band Van Halen is working on new music, and a new album is likely a year and a half away.

    Singer David Lee Roth revealed in an interview with SiriusXM’s Jim Florentine that new music is on deck.

    “I was up at Edward’s house, maybe three days ago, and we’re starting to put music together,” Roth said, adding, “We start way, way, way in advance, ’cause we are eminently art-centric, which is a really fancy way of saying we really do generate all the artwork, the graphics, etc. Same thing with the merchandise: If you buy a t-shirt, that was designed, literally, in my living room.”

    Roth, who joined Van Halen in 1974, before being replaced by Sammy Hagar in 1985, and then Gary Cherone in 1996, says the band presently practices together about 3 times per week. The current lineup includes Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Wolfgang Van Halen.

    Here is a copy of the full interview audio:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxrigqRihag

    “Oh, yeah, we’re writing,” Roth said “I write lyrics routinely. It’s a perishable skill. And the band plays together routinely, at least three times a week. They’re up at Ed’s place, routinely.”

    Diamond Dave, who has been repeatedly kicked out of Van Halen, was kicked out of Van Halen shortly after the filming of the clip below, at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-agRcJ0vz7I

    Van Halen is still at its finest with Roth at the Helm.

    Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” (1984) from the album “1984”:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4GZFbCqx18

    “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” (1978) from the album “Van Halen”:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Van Halen Working With David Lee Roth Again

    Van Halen was one of the biggest bands of the ’80s, and while drugs, alcohol, and tension within the band caused too many problems for them to continue on that path, the original members still have creative love for one another. Now, they’re working on new music together, and frontman David Lee Roth says we can expect new music in about a year and a half.

    “I was up at (guitarist) Edward (Van Halen)’s house, maybe three days ago – just before I came here to the city – and we’re starting to put music together,” Roth said in an interview on Sirius XM. “Not to give away exactly what the package will be, it’s gonna be about 18 months, I think.”

    The reason it will take so long, Roth says, is because the band has a hand in every single aspect of a new album, and it’s the same way with shows. While he admits it can be a drawn out task, Roth says that’s just their creative process.

    “We start way, way, way in advance, ’cause we are eminently art-centric, which is a really fancy way of saying we really do generate all the artwork, the graphics, etc. We don’t hire out and have somebody design a bunch of album covers for us and then choose…. we start from scratch ourselves. Same thing with the merchandise – if you buy a t-shirt, that was designed, literally, in my living room. On and on… stage design, lighting rig, putting the show together – it takes about a year and a half, 18 months, because any idea that you have is 85 phone calls.”

    Roth’s last project with the band–the 2012 album A Different Kind Of Truth–was a critical success, a wonder considering the group spent two decades mostly apart, with Roth joining them in 1996 to great fanfare only to fall out with them when Gary Cherone was chosen over him to sing lead vocals.