Alex Van Halen Says David Lee Roth Tanked EVH Tribute Tour
· Ultimate Classic RockAlex Van Halen confirmed the rumors of a Van Halen tribute tour following the death of Eddie Van Halen in a new Rolling Stone interview — and he placed the blame for its dissolution squarely on singer David Lee Roth.
Rumors of the tour surfaced in April 2022 when former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted said he received an invitation to jam with Alex Van Halen and Joe Satriani, who would have handled guitar duties on the trek. (Original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony was also reportedly considered for the gig.) But Alex claimed that when he suggested an explicit recognition of his brother during each show, Roth lost his cool.
“The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex told Rolling Stone, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.’ And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse. … The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”
Alex, unsurprisingly, didn’t take kindly to Roth’s refusal to acknowledge his brother onstage. “I’m from the street,” he said. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.”
The drummer said he still keeps in touch with Roth following the blowup, but it left him bewildered. “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore,” he added. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for his work ethic and all that. But, Dave, you gotta work as a community, motherfucker. It’s not you alone anymore.”
READ MORE: All 75 David Lee Roth-Era Van Halen Songs Ranked Worst to Best
Alex Van Halen's Spinal Injury Has Kept Him From Drumming
Ultimately, Alex wouldn’t have been able to take part in the tribute tour anyway, as he suffered a spinal injury during a trip to a shooting range in 2022 that made it difficult for him to move, let alone play drums. “The rifle kicked me on my ass,” he said, “and broke my back, instantly. And then I spent a year on the floor. Just staring at the ceiling. We became best friends.”
In hindsight, Alex said he doesn’t regret missing out on the proposed Van Halen tribute tour. “It’s too bad on one hand, but it’s fine on the other,” he explained. “Because now, in retrospect, playing the old songs is not really paying tribute to anybody. That’s just like a jukebox, in my opinion. … To find a replacement for Ed? It’s just not the same.”
READ MORE: Hear Alex Van Halen Eulogize Eddie Van Halen in 'Brothers' Clip
Alex Van Halen's 'Brothers' Memoir Arriving This Month
Alex Van Halen will release his memoir, Brothers, on Oct. 22. Described as a “love letter” to the late Eddie Van Halen, the book will detail Alex’s one-of-a-kind personal and musical relationship with his brother, and the audio version will include previously unreleased music from the duo.
Alex is also clear about which version of Van Halen he considers definitive, writing in his book: “The heart and the soul and the creativity and the magic was Dave, Ed, Mike and me.”
1974: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Mark Stone / David Lee Roth
Before there was Van Halen, there was Mammoth, the primarily covers-oriented group that started morphing into the Van Halen we all know and love after David Lee Roth joined the lineup. Bassist Mike Stone, a holdover from the Mammoth days, didn't last long in the new incarnation, and he's kept a pretty low profile since leaving the band – although he did surface on eBay during the summer of 2013 to sell a custom-built bass.
1974-85: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / David Lee Roth / Michael Anthony
Once Michael Anthony stepped in for Stone on bass, the band was off and running; starting with its 1978 self-titled debut, Van Halen enjoyed consistent success on the pop and rock charts, releasing a string of gold and platinum albums between '78-'84. In 1985, with the band's commercial profile at an all-time high, long-simmering internal tensions boiled over; in the aftermath, frontman David Lee Roth departed to pursue a promising solo career, leaving the band with the uncertain task of finding a new lead singer who could fill Roth's flamboyant shoes.
1985-96: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Michael Anthony / Sammy Hagar
Replacing Roth proved a difficult task for Van Halen; it was only after months of considering various possibilities – including a rotating lineup featuring a number of part-time singers that could have included Patty Smyth and Eric Martin of Mr. Big – that a chance meeting at a car mechanic's garage led Eddie to offer the position to former Montrose frontman-turned-solo-artist Sammy Hagar. All doubts about the new lineup's commercial viability were quelled in 1986, when his first LP with the band, '5150,' became their first to go to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. For the next decade, the Hagar-fronted version of the group (disdainfully dubbed 'Van Hagar' by fans who pined for a Roth reunion) repeated '5150's' chart-topping success with a series of albums, including 1988's 'OU812' and 1991's 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.'
1996: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Michael Anthony / Mitch Malloy
It ended up being more of a footnote than anything else, but our list of Van Halen lineup changes would be remiss without a mention of Mitch Malloy, the impressively maned singer who once seemed destined to follow in Hagar's footsteps by going from solo act to VH lead singer. In fact, after jamming with the guys (and allegedly being told by manager Ray Daniels that he had the job), Malloy watched the gig slip right out of his hands.
1996: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Michael Anthony / David Lee Roth
In 1996, after a platinum-streaked decade of fronting one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, Hagar – depending on who you ask – either quit or was fired from Van Halen, opening the door for an exceedingly brief (but much-publicized) reunion with Roth. Sadly for fans who'd long hoped to see Van Halen's original singer back in the fold, his second stint with the group only produced a pair of new songs on 1996's 'Best of Volume I'; after a disastrous appearance at that year's MTV Video Music Awards, Roth was once more on the outs.
1997-99: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Michael Anthony / Gary Cherone
Forced to find another new lead singer, Van Halen repeated what it had done with Hagar, reaching for another known quantity from the rock charts: former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone, whose elastic pipes helped that band become one of the more eclectic outfits in the genre during the early '90s. While many fans had only heard Extreme's softer side (specifically, their hit acoustic ballad 'More Than Words'), Cherone was more than capable of belting out the hard stuff, as evidenced on 'Without You,' the leadoff single from his only album with the band, 1998's 'Van Halen III.' Unfortunately, changing trends and a disappointing lack of radio-ready material helped conspire to make 'VHIII' a relative flop, and after a disappointingly attended tour, this lineup only managed to record a few demos for an aborted follow-up before parting ways.
2004: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Michael Anthony / Sammy Hagar
Given the animosity that arose in the wake of Hagar's departure from Van Halen, few would have guessed he might return to the lineup one day – but that's exactly what happened in 2004, when the band reunited with its second singer for a pair of new songs (bundled into the 'Best of Both Worlds' compilation) and a tour. The good vibes didn't last long, however; as any Van Halen fan could tell you, the 2004 tour was marred by sloppy performances and bad behavior, and after the final show – which culminated with Eddie smashing his guitar on stage – the band entered a lengthy hiatus.
2007-2020: Alex Van Halen / Eddie Van Halen / Wolfgang Van Halen / David Lee Roth
After enjoying guitar god status during the '70s, '80s, and '90s, Eddie Van Halen largely withdrew from the public eye, earning a reputation for being an eccentric recluse who was just as likely to debut new material at an unannounced club performance as he was to make an infamous, seemingly drunken appearance at the 2003 NAMM convention. As the post-'Van Halen III' years wore on and fans grew impatient for an album of new material, rumors ran rampant – and none were more persistent than the one saying David Lee Roth was back in the band. Finally, in the fall of 2007, the reunion came true – minus Anthony, who'd been kicked out (and temporarily scrubbed from the band's website) in favor of Eddie's son Wolfgang. Their 2007 tour didn't immediately lead to new music, but Van Halen did eventually return to the studio with Roth, releasing their 12th studio LP, 'A Different Kind of Truth,' in February 2012. Eddie then died in 2020, ending the band.
2008-Present: Chickenfoot: Sammy Hagar / Michael Anthony / Joe Satriani / Chad Smith
Hagar and Anthony responded to their ouster by forming a new supergroup, Chickenfoot, with guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. They released studio albums in 2009 and 2011 and toured behind them, although Smith's Chili Peppers' commitments in 2011 meant that Kenny Aronoff occupied the drum stool. Although the band has not officially broken up, their respective schedules have prevented them from working together since then.
2014-Present: Sammy Hagar & the Circle: Sammy Hagar / Michael Anthony / Jason Bonham / Vic Johnson
With Chickenfoot on hiatus, Hagar and Anthony continued working together. They picked Vic Johnson, who served as Hagar's guitarist in the Waboritas, and Jason Bonham. Their first year of touring resulted in a live album, 2015's 'At Your Service,' and their first studio effort, 'The Space Between,' arrived in 2019.