Fun Facts About Van Halen Singer David Lee Roth & Where Is He Now?
David Lee Roth jumped into his eighth decade on Oct. 10, 2024, when the former Van Halen frontman, singer and beloved pop culture wild man turned 70. Though he’s had a robust career both with VH and as a solo artist, he’s been fairly quiet since around 2012, when he recorded a final Van Halen album, A Different Kind of Truth, and embarked on an international tour with the band.
So what has Diamond Dave been up to? Read on to find out if he’s still dancing the night away.
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Roth was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1954, and spent most of his childhood in that state before his family moved to Pasadena, California, in his teens. There, he met fellow Pasadena residents Eddie and Alex Van Halen, who were playing in a band called Mammoth. After multiple failed auditions, Roth finally joined the band as a singer, and in 1974, the band changed their name to Van Halen.
The band gained popularity in the emerging hard rock scene on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip. Gene Simmons of Kiss helped them record a demo tape in 1976 that didn’t lead to any major label interest; however, a four-month residency at the Starwood Club led to an eventual deal with Warner Bros. Their self-titled 1978 debut was an immediate hit, cracking the Billboard Top 20 at No. 19; it contained many songs that remained the band’s signatures for the rest of their career, including “Running With the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and “Eruption,” which had a seismic influence on guitar playing by popularizing the technique of tapping.
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In the four following years, Van Halen released an album a year and toured constantly. Roth became a presence on the then-new MTV, but creative tensions between him and Eddie Van Halen put pressure on the band as they hit their greatest success. 1984’s 1984, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts and produced the band’s only No. 1 hit, “Jump,” would be Roth’s final album with the band until 2012.
The Gigolo Goes Solo
In 1985, Roth released the Crazy From the Heat covers EP, his first solo release. It contained a medley of “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” that reached No. 12 on the charts, while his version of the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” hit No. 3.
Buoyed by its success, Roth began a solo career in earnest as well as a creative collaboration with guitarist Steve Vai, which started with the 1986 album Eat ‘Em and Smile, and continued through 1988’s Skyscraper. During this time, Roth became known for his over-the-top live shows, which featured moments such as his dressing up as a boxer in a floating ring and “surfing” over the audience on a surfboard suspended from the ceiling. Clips of this can be seen in the video for “Just Like Paradise.”
In the ’90s, Instead of a Hit Record, Roth Released a Bestseller
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The arrival of grunge and alternative rock in the early ’90s led to a quieter period for Roth. One of his bigger early ’90s moments was unfortunately getting arrested in New York City’s Washington Square Park for buying marijuana from an undercover police officer in 1993. He also debuted a Las Vegas lounge review in 1995 backed by Nile Rodgers, Edgar Winter, a brass band and a bevy of Vegas showgirls.
After Sammy Hagar exited the band in 1996, Roth recorded two new songs with the Van Halens and Michael Anthony for a greatest hits album, but the reunion proved short-lived. “I was very clear that he was not in the band — that it was just a project,” Eddie Van Halen said of the recordings. “What I wanted to do was write five new songs and pick two out of those five.”
In 1997, Roth released his autobiography, Crazy From the Heat, which was a New York Times bestseller. The book was infamously assembled from 1,200 pages of Roth’s free-association about his life, whittled down to under 400 pages.
In the early 2000s, he also trained as an EMT; he went on hundreds of calls in New York City, and his trainer described him to The New York Post as someone who “probably turned out to be one of the best students I have ever had.”
A Team-Up With Hagar & a Reunion
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A rumored attempt at a reunion with Van Halen in 2000 and 2001 fizzled. But in 2002, he toured with fellow former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar, on the Song for Song tour, which reignited public interest in his career. In 2006, when Howard Stern left his radio station to work for Sirius, Roth was his replacement, but his show only lasted for four months.
Then, in 2007, Roth once again joined forces with the Van Halen brothers, announcing a tour that would re-team them, with Eddie’s son Wolfgang replacing Michael Anthony. The band played 74 dates, though there were a number of delays and rescheduling, due to Eddie Van Halen’s health issues.
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Later in the same year, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But Eddie’s ongoing health issues prevented him from attending; Alex opted not to attend to support his brother, and Roth — who was originally scheduled to perform a classic Van Halen song backed by Velvet Revolver — dropped out of appearing as well, due to conflict with the backing band. Michael Anthony and Hagar were the only band members present to accept the award.
In 2012, the reunited Van Halen released A Different Kind of Truth, which included some reworked songs written earlier in the band’s career, and toured to promote the album through 2013.
What’s Roth Doing Now?
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Roth was fairly quiet publicly in the years after this tour. He played a residency in Vegas in early 2020 and opened for Kiss on a tour that was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, after the tour was rescheduled, Roth was booted from the bill, with Simmons referring to him as not in his “prime.”
Eddie Van Halen passed in October 2020, leading to the official dissolution of Van Halen.
In 2021, Roth formally announced that his retirement from live performance would come after a year-end Vegas residency, stating, “I’ve given you all I’ve got to give.” Those shows were later canceled, meaning his final live gig occurred in March 2020. He has, however, still released recorded music and has a podcast called The Roth Show, which released its most recent episode in May 2024.
He’s also doubled down on an interest in visual art — he previously spent multiple years in Japan, training in traditional art techniques. Fans can see his interactive graphic novel, The Roth Project, on his website, where they can also check out his abstract paintings. As he told The New York Times of his art in 2020, “This isn’t expressing myself. This is performance therapy. I’m venting. I’m angry. And I am not asking for forgiveness. And this is how I do it.”
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