Van Halen's David Lee Roth Shares His Personal History With Wrestling
... (hennemusic)
Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth talks about his personal history with, and connection to, professional wrestling in the latest episode of The Roth Show. It's the 15th edition in the online show's series, which provides the singer with a creative outlet while
Van Halen are off the road. The group recently headlined The Stone Music Festival in Australia, and are scheduled to play four concerts in Japan in June.
Van Halen will perform at the RockUSA Festival in Oshkosh, WI on July 20, and have recently announced that they'll play the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, CA on July 24. Check out the Roth Show episode here. hennemusic is an official news provider for antiMusic.com. Copyright hennemusic - Excerpted here with permission.
Van Halen's David Lee Roth Shares His Personal History With Wrestling ...
[ read more ]Van Halen adds a couple one-off gigs to summer plans
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Van Halen has unveiled a couple of domestic shows that will follow a mid-June trip to Japan, all in support of last year's release, "A Different Kind of Truth." The iconic rock outfit, currently comprised of frontman David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Wolfgang
Van Halen, will follow up four Japanese performances with a July 20 appearance at Rock USA in Oshkosh, WI, as well as a July 24 concert at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, CA.
Van Halen most recently announced "A Different Kind of Truth," the group's 12th studio album, which surfaced in February 2012. The Interscope Records release landed at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and at the top of the magazine's Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts.
Van Halen adds a couple one-off gigs to summer plans ...
[ read more ]David Lee Roth Says Van Halen Are Avoiding Overexposure
... (Classic Rock) It may come as a surprise, but
Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth believes there's a limit to how much exposure his band should get. During a recent TV show he explains his theory that their appearances should be like James Bond movies. He says: "Those first 15 years you tour constantly. You're everywhere. "Now we're on what I call the James Bond schedule. James Bond movies only come out every three years or so. It's been around so long and it's so familiar that, any sooner and its, 'What did he just do?'" In the full show Roth explains that his house in Pasadena is just about his only example of rock'n'roll excess when it comes to possessions, saying: "I've been here the length of the
Van Halen career. A lot of folks in my position like things and stuff - an Italian sports car with a six-syllable name and an Italian trophy wife with a five-syllable name. This was the one material thing that I bought." Read more and watch video of the interview here. Classic Rock Magazine is an official news provider for antiMusic.com. Copyright Classic Rock Magazine- Excerpted here with permission. David Lee Roth Says
Van Halen Are Avoiding Overexposure ...
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Van Halen
(1974-)
David Lee Roth (vocals) 1974-1985
Eddie Van Halen (guitar, vocals) 1974-
Alex Van Halen (drums) 1974-
Michael Anthony (bass, vocals) 1974-2007
Sammy Hagar (vocals) 1985-1996 2004-
Gary Cherone (vocals) 1996-1999
Wolfgang Van Halen (bass) 2007-
Artistfacts®: You can leave comments about the artist/band at the bottom of the page.
Years of jumping around on stage took it's toll on Eddie. He had hip-replacement surgery in 1999. He also had cancer in his throat and tongue, which caused him to lose part of his tongue.
On their 1979 tour, David Lee Roth gave each of the crew members 5 backstage passes, which they were supposed to give to beautiful women. If Roth shacked up with one of the babes, he gave the roadie that got her in $100 the next day.
Eddie and Alex were born and raised in Holland. Their family moved to Pasadena, California in 1967, when Eddie was 10 and Alex was 12.
Eddie took piano lessons throughout his youth. He credits his understanding of classical music for his ability to write songs.
Eddie and Alex' father, Jan Van Halen, was a professional clarinet player.
Their original name was Mammoth. They changed it after finding out another band had it first. It was Roth's idea to use the name Van Halen, Eddie and Alex didn't like it.
Roth was in a band called Redball Jet when he met Eddie and Alex. Michael Anthony met Alex at Pasadena City College.
Eddie has serious stage fright, and the only way he could perform early on was by having some drinks beforehand, which is something his dad suggested. He quickly became a very high-functioning alcoholic, but his drinking had a profound effect on his health, his personal relationships, and the band. He credits his wife Janie Liszewski, who he met in 2006, with getting him sober, which he finally did around 2009. For most of 2008, Eddie sat around the house watching television and weaning himself off of alcohol.
In 1977, Gene Simmons saw them in concert and set up their first recording session. He flew them to New York and bought them new clothes, but the resulting demo still didn't get them a record deal. The record companies were reluctant to sign them because Disco was in and Rock was out.
On most of the songs, the music was written by Eddie and the lyrics by Roth or Hagar. The band shares songwriting credit, however, meaning that royalties are split equally regardless of who contributes.
Roth was hyperactive as a child and became a very high-energy adult. His demand for attention helped the band in the sense that it kept Eddie from having to do interviews or stage moves. Roth did all the talking.
Eddie married actress Valerie Bertinelli on April 11, 1981. They met the year before when she brought her brother, who was a huge Van Halen fan, backstage at a show in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1991 they had a son named Wolfgang. Eddie and Valerie separated in 2001 and divorced in 2005. (thanks, Lee - Phoenix, AZ)
Eddie is constantly working on his guitars. He takes them apart and pieces them together until he gets them just right.
They had a provision in their contract demanding M&Ms backstage with the brown ones removed. This was a way of seeing if the promoters read the contract. If they saw brown M&Ms, they knew there would be problems with the show.
In 2004, David Lee Roth turned his back on music and trained to be a paramedic. The same year, the band reunited with Hagar. (thanks, Tom - Trowbridge, England)
Eddie started out as a drummer. Alex had a guitar, but while Eddie was out on his paper route (that he had to pay for his drums), Alex would play his drums. Eddie said "Fine, play my drums, I'll play your guitar!" (thanks, Pat - Babylon, NY)
Michael Anthony makes hot sauce. It's called Mad Anthony's Hot Sauce. (thanks, Mike - Toms River, NJ)
When Van Halen first appeared, there was a rumor that the group were actually members of KISS without their make-up and attire. If you take a close look at early pics of them, David Lee Roth resembled Paul Stanley, Eddie Van Halen resembled Ace Frehley, and Michael Anthony resembled Gene Simmons. This rumor may had been fueled by Gene Simmons' discovery of the group, and the fact that Van Halen had appeared right around the time KISS had taken a break from the recording studio in 1977. The rumor was soon quelled when the individual members of KISS released their "solo" albums in 1978 around the same time Van Halen II was released, and people began to really notice the height differential between Alex Van Halen and Peter Criss. (thanks, Randy - Colerain Twp., OH)
Anthony's real last name is Sobolewski.
Van Halen reunited in 2007 with David Lee Roth joining Eddie and Alex, along with Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass. Sammy Hagar and Mike Anthony weren't invited to join them on tour, but they were the band's sole representatives at Van Halen's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction that year. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Van Halen's 2008 tour rider contains a demand for a study room for bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, who was 16 then, and his tutor. David Lee Roth's dressing room was demanded with no floor covering to allow Mr. Roth to practice martial arts in his dressing room.
In the early days, Eddie played his solos with his back to the audience so that other guitar players could not steal his moves, and also because of his stage freight.
Comments:
Gary Cherone may be a good singer, but he was not a good fit for VH. Can anyone understand more than 5 words he sings on that entire album? If you listen to his vocal patterns, it becomes clear that album was really meant for Sammy to sing on. Cherone was a dimestore replacement, at best.
Van Halen never performed with Robert Plant. That is a mislabeled track on Limewire. Ignore it.
Eddie has been the problem, not the singers. It pains me to say that because I love the guy, but face it - he's been a clueless jerk for awhile now. I mean....how can anyone not get along with Sammy? I hope the recent rehab brings him back to earth. When David Lee Roth of all people says "Eddie is in his own little world..." that is a MAJOR red flag, if you ask me. Read the interview Howard Stern did with Eddie and you'll get a taste of what I'm talking about. EVH is waaaaay out there. I wonder seriously if he even remembered any of his dumb comments the next day.
Intersting note regarding the VH performance at Farm Aid: When the band finishes Led Zep's "Rock and Roll", Sammy begins to unfurl a sign that was thrown up on stage. When Eddie asks him what it says, Sammy forgets that the mic is still live and blurts out, "it says you have a small dick!" Willie Nelson was not amused, and never invited VH back to play another Farm Aid concert.
Michael Anthony has done nothing wrong except put up with too much of Eddie's crap over the years. What a shame he won't be included should VH w/Dave ever reunite. Cutting him loose was a lowball, classless act. I give Mike full props for the kind words he said about Ed at the R-n-R Hall of Fame ceremony. Now THAT was class - and Eddie sure didn't deserve it.
Sammy on the other hand i thought brought out the band, They seem to have better music and Sammy's voice seem to fit in with the music.
I have been to many VH concerts, one with dave and 3 with Sammy,In my eyes and ears i think VH was at the best with Sammy.
As for as the Their music today,(VH) well yes it has changed,Sammy went off to start his own band, Dave went off to start a band, and both of them (sammy,Dave) both played in Atlantic City, NJ.
Dave doesnt sound at all like he used tobut i feel Sammy does.
Who cares who sung with VH back in the older days, they were a group that rocked, and im sure they would still have rocked but the band really had a hard time staying afloat until recent, maybe they are back together as a band again but i have not heard of any tour dates set for Camden NJ or Philadelphia PA.
Let me ask, most of the songs the radio stations play of VH, who do you hear the most of? Sammy or Dave? I hear more of Sammy, then Dave. but maybe it depends on where you live and whatever rock station is in your area.
All round i think Sammy was the better person for the band but as i said opinions vary.
_Kurt B. - Heber City, Utah
tom lesko
seance 1982
David Lee Roth era Van Halen - Party rock band (Let's get smashed and laid)
Sammy Hagar era Van Halen - Commercial sucess (Couldn't listen to a radio without hearing "Dreams" or "When It's Love")
Gary Cherone era Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen unbridled ("Wow, is this the same dude who wrote 'In a Simple Rhyme'?")
Eric - Atlanta, Ga.
Bring back Dave for one more CD and tour ... then retire, gracefully ... if you wish.
Give the fans ... at least the majority, what THEY want for a change.
If VH announced the aforementioned, they'd sell out in all respects like never before ... and regardless of whether it lived up to 'classic' standards or not ... it would offer closure, in a sense ... before it's too late.
Mike
Here's the deal with Van Halen...
They kicked everyone's ass in 1978. Nobody had heard that kind of sound before. They were hungry, extremely new to the big business of making music, and used that hunger to blow the world away.
HOWEVER... Things must change. They always do.
Dave was a substandard singer, a decent performer, and a cancer on the band, ultimately.
Sam came in and took the band to levels that Dave would never have taken them. Sam is a better singer, and better performer, and a more focused musician. Does anyone really believe Dave could have sung "Dreams"?
Put it this way: Dave is now a paramedic, Sam is now back with the band, selling out 15,000 seat arenas. Enough said. You need CPR? Call Dave. You want an amazing rock vocal? Call Sam.
People talk about Ed "selling out" with his playing and writing, or losing whatever it was he had in 1978. Musicians EVOLVE, kids, it's what they do.
When Sam came along the writing got better, the material became more complex, they stretched out technically, and became better musicians and a better Van Halen. 5150 was VH's first #1 album, by the way.
And by the way, making music is a BUSINESS, for all you critics saying Van Hagar "sold out," or became a "money making machine," or "went pop."
Pop is short for popular. As in, lots of people like it. If you want to eat, you've got to sell records, simple as that.
My advice: Appreciate the past, enjoy the past, don't live there.
Lastly, Al is one of the greatest pure rock drummers in history, no question. Mike is one of the most underrated rock bassists in history (not to mention his vocal contributions). Ed revolutionized and popularized (there's that word again) rock guitar in ways no one has ever or will ever accomplish.
As for Roth or Hagar, I personally like Roth. But hell, most bands are better in their early years. I'd like Hagar if Eddie still played like he used to instead of conforming to the newer age.
I'm sadly so far the only female girl that is in love with Van Halen. everyone thinks im weird cause i hum cathedral (my favorite solo). do any of you know a girl, 14-16 who like the band?
Samantha,SJ,Texas