Not sure what Roth is implying with this interview here, but this sounds bad...

"I'm the face of VAN HALEN from this point on, most likely. I'm not sure what's happening with Ed [VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen], but he's probably not gonna answer the bell this time. And it's not my place to guess. But we've been in touch. The fellows who I'm working with in terms of my road crew and the amps come from VAN HALEN."

Asked if he is implying that Eddie Van Halen has been dealing with some health issues as of late, Roth replied: "I hear all the same rumors that you do and it's not my place to guess."

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/david-lee-roth-on-eddie-van-halens-health-i-hear-all-the-same-rumors-that-you-do/

From the video I caught of the Van Halen reunion tour a few years ago, Dave has turned into a clown and his voice is completely shot. Anyone who would pay to see this is probably donating huge sums of cash to the casino gambling tables as well. If you can afford both, well, suit yourself I guess............

From the video I caught of the Van Halen reunion tour a few years ago, Dave has turned into a clown and his voice is completely shot. Anyone who would pay to see this is probably donating huge sums of cash to the casino gambling tables as well. If you can afford both, well, suit yourself I guess............

I think he's been clownish for years now and despite having the ability to actually sing, albeit in a slightly different manner than in the old days, he seems to not really put forth the effort to actually do so and prefers to act, well, too clownish on stage. In other words it's become all about the non singing part of Roth's onstage performance.

If you read between the lines of an interview EVH did near the end of the last tour, he pretty much suggests that this was the end of the line at least as far as touring with Roth is concerned. He was very matter of fact about Dave simply not giving a shit about the actual quality of his singing in a live setting and it was clearly a frustration for EVH.

As far as the Van Halen brothers are concerned, I think they're content living outside of the music business and have very little interest in touring or recording again. Too bad as I suspect there's still some awesome music pent up inside the brothers. I also think there's always, for EVH anyway, too much temptation while on the road to fall off the wagon again and jeopardize his sobriety.

Toss in age and the fact that they're both multi-millionaires now in their sunset years, and you have a recipe for retirement from music and limited time to pursue other things. Just my take of course and your mileage may vary...

Dave has always been Dave and always will be......nothing really to much different over the last 40yrs. If you are expecting something different this stage of the game, It's not gonna happen.

I think what DLR is implying about the " face of VH" is that he might be carrying on the music of the band. As wacky as he can be, he is no dummy. He knows he is not VH, but was a HUGE part of what they made. The band is dormant and I believe he is tired of sitting around and wants to get out. I can't say I blame him. I am not sure if they have had him on retainer / or contract the last 4 yrs . Mike said earlier this summer there was supposed to be some shows.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/michael-anthony-van-halen-reunion-tour-850466/

David Lee Roth Says He’s ‘Paid a Price’ for Van Halen Hiatus

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-hiatus/

David Lee Roth said he’s “paid a price” for Van Halen’s continuing lack of activity, adding that it had felt “paralyzing” to remain inactive for so long.

He just announced a 2020 Las Vegas residency that will put him back into action, after suggesting that there’s no end in sight to the band’s current hiatus.

“Four summers have gone by,” Roth told Van Halen News Desk. “And for a singer, that’s paralyzing. Like a boxer, or a tap dancer, I am dependent upon my whole rig. My whole body. Perhaps playing a guitar, or piano, for example, with your hands, is a bit more forgiving over the years.” He joked: “If you come watch me now, I’m 65 going on 23. If you saw my X-rays, I’m 65 going on 80!”

He continued: “I’ve paid a price for the time off, frankly. Enough said there. I hope the best for the fellas, but I don’t know what’s coming up with Van Halen.” Discussing his residency, he said: “It’s time for me to use whatever talents and skills that I have. I’m bettin’ the rent on it. You’re going to have a ball. This is the smile that launched a thousand hips.”

Van Halen’s most recent tour, a 39-date North American run, ended in October 2015. It had been timed to support the release of Tokyo Dome Live in Concert, the band’s first live album to feature Roth. In 2016 the singer said: “It's not like my career path is gonna be altered. I sort of know what the next 10 summers are going to bring… I don't know when we're going to tour but I have a sense that we will. I don't know that we're going to record again – when that'll happen – but I get the sense that it's gonna happen."

Dave’s savvy when it comes to media. He knew exactly that this would blow up the internet if he acknowledged the EVH health scare rumors and then refused to answer, with the “not my place to guess”. But he is doing this Vegas thing with the blessing of the Brothers. This MGM/HOB residency is Irving Azoff produced, and using VH crews. DLR doesn’t do that without approval of the Brothers. The band is largely the VH cover band he used on the Sam & Dave tour way back when, with an additional hot shot guitarist that is otherwise largely unknown. DLR knows to keep this somewhat low-key. If DLR really thought that VH is done and this is his “F-it, I’m doing what I want to do now” then he could have pulled together the EEAS band for 10 date reunion run in Vegas all high profile, and gotten himself kicked out of VH (much like Mike Anthony did when he participated in the Sam & Dave tour).

DLR has mentioned he had meetings with the VH camp several weeks/months ago, and my guess is he got the lay of the land that the Brothers weren’t going to do anything before summer 2020 and then got their blessing to do a low-key Vegas thing to keep his voice in shape. And the Brothers said yes, go for it.

I think there’s a 50/50 chance VH is done for good or they might tour again in summer or fall of 2020. EVH is perfectly fine with “maybe” as to the future of VH the band. Apparently there was some truth to the rumors of the 40th anniversary tour that got squashed very early on, and the more recent 2018-19 rumors of a reunion with Michael Anthony that got some legs under it. DLR more or less said as much in interview at the end of last year when he launched his tattoo accessory line of products, and then Mikey also acknowledged this past spring/summer that there was indeed some dialogue among the various camps (MA, DLR, Brothers/Azoff) in late 2018 about doing something this summer/fall 2019.

My guess is they had to postpone for some reason and they kicked the can 12 months to 2020. Wolf’s album is in the can, and I bet they’re holding onto it for release ahead of a VH reunion tour, possibly with Wolf putting together a band to open. If it happens it happens. If not, then it doesn’t. That leads to all sorts of guessing as to the cause of the delay. But I don’t think it has to necessarily be some sort of terminal illness and the band is done and DLR is on his own solo again. More likely someone needed to have their other hip replaced, or fell off the wagon, or needed some sort of surgery or treatment for an otherwise routine non-terminal ailment that also requires a lengthy recovery period that precluded a 2019 tour. They’re all in their 60s now, and time and history takes a toll.

My $0.02.

I love DLR-era Van Halen and have enjoyed a decent chunk of his solo work. I thought "A Different Kind of Truth" was better than I had a right to expect.

However, I would not blame the VH bros for retiring the band. I think Led Zep earned plenty of credibility by not overextending their existence, and VH could follow suit. Hard rock is a very difficult genre in which to age respectably.

I'm assuming they made enough cash to retire comfortably?

I'm assuming they made enough cash to retire comfortably?

By whose standard? Probably. AVH went through a divorce or two (or three?) that cost him a small fortune in California. Al's (2nd?) divorce was allegedly the reason they pushed forward with the 2004 reunion with Hagar/Anthony when EVH was in no shape to tour.

But otherwise, I mean they've made 10s of million each touring, sold 75+ million records, and probably receive pretty hefty residuals. All speculation on my part.

I love DLR-era Van Halen and have enjoyed a decent chunk of his solo work. I thought "A Different Kind of Truth" was better than I had a right to expect.

However, I would not blame the VH bros for retiring the band. I think Led Zep earned plenty of credibility by not overextending their existence, and VH could follow suit. Hard rock is a very difficult genre in which to age respectably.

I'm assuming they made enough cash to retire comfortably?

I get the LZ comparison, and good with it. Even though I want more.

DAVID LEE ROTH Hopes To Tour With Las Vegas Band After Completing 2020 Residency

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/david-lee-roth-hopes-to-tour-with-las-vegas-band-after-completing-2020-residency/

VAN HALEN vocalist David Lee Roth recently discussed his upcoming Las Vegas residency with John and Lern of the St. Louis radio station KSHE 95. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On what to expect from the residency:

David: "VAN HALEN is a billion-dollar franchise just in terms of making the music, and it comes from my point of view. I'm the son of a doctor — I'm not about me, me, me... I've been in three car accidents, and my first reaction was, 'How are you?' That's what we always brought to the show. In terms of the music, I start where the record starts. We do not sound like VAN HALEN live. You have not heard this. VAN HALEN live is lead [guitar], bass, drums, sing. Here, we start with three, four guitars, and we bring it with an unforgiving attitude. We're not up here strumming with the devil. This is not some tribute band... When we go to shows, the fellas and I, when I go myself, I'm a crybaby, whiny-ass, unflinching, unforgiving little, wavy... I want it exactly like that record, and I want it packed with way more emotional content. I want the sound perfect and I want the lights booming. I can tell the difference... I got these guys in their mid-'20s. They love it. We named the band — it's a private name, and we named it after the sound. Think of VAN HALEN music. The name of my band is HORSES OF GOD. That is the way it sounds — the way it sounds in your pickup truck to work. That's the way it sounded when you celebrated your first kid being born and listened to this music. That's the way it sounded when you graduated law school or cop school. That's the way it sounded when you joined the Marines."

On whether he sought permission from the Van Halen brothers before pursuing the residency:

David: "No. I wrote the songs. I wrote every word you heard, every syllable, every melody. I structured out even the guitar solos on that first album. Why do you think the solos [later] changed so radically? I sang the solos for 'Jamie's Cryin'' and 'Runnin' With The Devil'... I structured those songs. I designed the backgrounds on the stage. I came up with the album covers. I thought of the stripes on the guitar. I'm the one who said, 'Call it VAN HALEN.'"

On being David Lee Roth:

David: "A lot of characters in my job description will create a whole lot of diversified hobbies [and] avocations designed simply like merit badges to attract attention. I've kind of been a bit of a wanderer. I never really was a one-job-for-my-whole-life kind of fellow, perhaps kind of in the spirit of Mark Twain. Any of the things that I pursued required a lot, a lot of time to train and work with, and in fact, it is cross-training for what we do as artists. How many times as an artist have I wandered by a building, a shop, a store, a theater, a hospital and wondered, 'What goes on in there? I wonder who that person is? What did he or she eat for breakfast? What does that person have for a pet? What would that pet's name be?' And it's very different when you're Upper East Side than when you're in the 47th precinct... In terms of being a poet and wanting to take a look and see what's really going on, people like me usually get wrapped up in Elvis-like tin foil [and] you never see real life again. I got a chance to sort of revisit things. Once you sell a million records in the United States, you'll never have a normal conversation with anybody again, ever."

On the current state of rock music:

David: "VAN HALEN took five years – five 45-minute sets a night – before we made our first record. We did our 10,000 hours before we even sang our first note to you, and that kind of a balance, that's why we're on the same station as QUEEN, THE WHO, [LED] ZEPPELIN, [THE ROLLING] STONES... Classic rock came out of clubs and music halls where you had to work thousands and thousands of hours playing chart tunes or pop tunes, Top 40. When you wrote your songs, whether you were Jim Croce or LED ZEPPELIN, the material became timeless... Today, you don't have those clubs and bars and experiences where the musicians are putting in their hours and then bringing those tools to writing. They're listening to music at home and assimilating it. It's sort of like learning Japanese at home from some really good videos and tutorials on the Internet versus, 'Go live in Japan for two years.' See the difference?"

On his future plans:

David: "Once we get this up and rolling, then, of course, we're going to start to take this out on the road. I think I'm the face of VAN HALEN from this point on, and we take it as seriously as all you listening to it. Yeah, there's a lot of smile and style to it, but there's a lot of, 'We really, really have to mean it in the notes and what we do in the subtext of the lyrics.' It's the sound of several generations on one big prison break... We're up there on stage to work it."

Roth's residency at the House Of Blues at Las Vegas's Mandalay Bay kicks off on January 8.

Verrry verry interesting.

I still read it as a Plan B. If the Brothers decide not to do something next summer/fall, well, he can take this project on the road. And we shall see after the new year if the VH machinations are ratcheting up.

And I call BS on asking the VH camp for permission. Maybe depends on how he defines "permission".

I still wish he'd get someone like John 5 or someone along those lines, but I maintain that he is purposely keeping it low-key so as to not arouse the ire of some Dutch guys living in the California hills.

I don't know. Dave had kept pretty low since the tour ended 4yrs ago.Like I mentioned before maybe they had him on retainer or contract where he could not do anything. Maybe something has came down between the two camps where VH has no plans for anything and Dave is free to pursue whatever he wants. If that's the case, good for him. He could be tired of waiting around and time waits for no one.

I don't think what we're both saying is incongruent. He might be out of contract and was (smartly) laying low to make sure he didn't do anything to irk the Brothers. And after 4 years I think he told them he wanted to keep his voice in shape with a solo thing for as long as they're not doing anything as VH. No new music. Not a project. It will celebrate and waive the classic VH banner. But that he had to do something to be able to do anything again in the future. Anyone got a problem with that? Cool. Vegas residency it is.

I also think they've been doing a series of 2 or 3 year contracts since 2007. And I think the last one ended pretty soon after that last Hollywood Bowl show.

This pure poetry from DLR:
"A lot of characters in my job description will create a whole lot of diversified hobbies [and] avocations designed simply like merit badges to attract attention. I've kind of been a bit of a wanderer. I never really was a one-job-for-my-whole-life kind of fellow, perhaps kind of in the spirit of Mark Twain. Any of the things that I pursued required a lot, a lot of time to train and work with, and in fact, it is cross-training for what we do as artists. How many times as an artist have I wandered by a building, a shop, a store, a theater, a hospital and wondered, 'What goes on in there? I wonder who that person is? What did he or she eat for breakfast? What does that person have for a pet? What would that pet's name be?' And it's very different when you're Upper East Side than when you're in the 47th precinct... In terms of being a poet and wanting to take a look and see what's really going on, people like me usually get wrapped up in Elvis-like tin foil [and] you never see real life again. I got a chance to sort of revisit things. Once you sell a million records in the United States, you'll never have a normal conversation with anybody again, ever."

And this development might really matter if Roth could still sing! (sometimes guys get it back so we'll see....)

And this development might really matter if Roth could still sing! (sometimes guys get it back so we'll see....)

I think DLR still can. It's just if he wants to and put forth a little effort.

Eddie must be really sick or Roth must not be expecting to be back in the band.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-credit/