David Lee Roth believes that he “supported” Eddie Van Halen by taking five years off touring
Photo by Joe Schaeffer Photography
David Lee Roth believes that he “supported” Eddie Van Halen by taking five years off touring
Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was recently interviewed by Richard Bienstock for the New York Times which focused mostly on the singer’s artistic endeavours during the worldwide Covid-19 related shutdown.
Photo by Joe Schaeffer Photography
Van Halen, which also features 65 year old guitarist Eddie Van Halen, 67 year old drummer Alex Van Halen and 29 year old bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, last toured in 2015. Roth was asked whether Van Halen will ever tour again to which he replied:
“I don’t know that Eddie [Van Halen] is ever really going to rally for the rigors of the road again. [The guitarist first announced he had cancer in 2001, and it has recurred since.] I don’t even want to say I’ve waited — I’ve supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can’t take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He’s a band mate. We had a colleague down. And he’s down now for enough time that I don’t know that he’s going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You’re talking to him.”
In the beginning of 2020, Roth returned back to performing live and touring with a Las Vegas residency and a support slot for KISS on their End of The Road World Tour. Roth‘s live shows ended up getting cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the singer was asked whether it was difficult to leave the road so hastily to which he indicated:
“Every Jiu-Jitsu magazine has a 28-year-old who’s going to tell you about the two years that got taken away by his elbow. Every kickboxing magazine has a 32-year-old instructor who goes, “Well, I lost those three years to my left knee.” So I’ve just been isolating away. Because I myself am high risk.”
In terms of why he considers himself high risk, Roth stated: “The road will deteriorate you from the beginning or it will keep you alive forever. When we go out, we wear ourselves to a nubbin. I just had a lower back surgery. It was a spinal fusion where they take a chip from somebody else. I’m actually taller now. Do I seem taller? I mean, over the phone?”
You can read the rest of the interview with David Lee Roth at the New York Times‘ website.