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David Lee Roth Bio
With a flamboyant, larger than life
stage presence and a party-hearty surfer dude persona (not to mention
his acrobatic leaps, long mane of blond hair, and skintight spandex
outfits), Roth was an integral part of Van Halen's meteoric rise to
global dominance from 1978 through 1984. Born on October 10, 1955, in
Bloomington, IN, Roth was introduced to music at an early age, via his
father's affinity for Al Jolson, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Louis
Prima. By the dawn of his teenage years, his family had relocated to
California, and by the early '70s, Roth had become a major rock fan (Led
Zeppelin, Black Oak Arkansas, Grand Funk, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, etc.).
Roth was soon singing in local bands, including the Red Ball Jets, who
would play shows along with another up-and-coming rock band from
Pasadena, CA -- Mammoth.
The members of Mammoth, including brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen on
guitar and drums, respectively, would often borrow Roth's PA system for
their gigs, and a friendship was struck up. Soon after, Roth was asked
to join forces with the Van Halen brothers, who had enlisted a new
bassist as well, Michael Anthony. The new quartet decided on a name
change by the mid-'70s as they played the Sunset Strip -- Van Halen
(reportedly Roth's idea). By 1977, the quartet was signed to Warner
Bros., and 1978 saw the release of their landmark self-titled debut, one
of rock's all-time great recordings. Mixing heavy metal riffs with
punk's fury, Van Halen were onto a whole new sound, which resulted in
the band taking the world by storm. The band issued a string of classic
mega-selling albums (1979's Van Halen II, 1980's Women and Children
First, 1981's Fair Warning, 1982's Diver Down, and two years later,
1984), while becoming a major arena-headlining concert draw in the
process.
Just as Van Halen had hit their peak and appeared they could do no
wrong, Roth issued a four-track solo EP in 1985, Crazy from the Heat,
with rumors swirling that the bandmembers were bickering behind the
scenes and that the singer was going to make a major motion picture.
Still, it was a shock to rock fans everywhere when Roth left Van Halen
later that year (Van Halen would soldier on with Sammy Hagar filling
Roth's spot) -- leading to a war of words in the press. When his plans
for the movie proved to be a bust, Roth immediately formed a top-notch
solo band, consisting of ex-Talas bassist Billy Sheehan (often called
"the Eddie Van Halen of bass"), ex-Frank Zappa guitarist Steve Vai, and
ex-Maynard Ferguson drummer Gregg Bissonette. In 1986, Roth issued his
first full-length solo effort, Eat 'Em and Smile, which was another hit
and gave way to another sold-out tour.
Roth had also become a master of creating hilarious and highly original
music videos (featuring a wide assortment of wacky characters),
especially Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" and Roth's solo clips
"California Girls," "Just a Gigolo," "Yankee Rose," and "Goin' Crazy."
But while Roth's new solo band seemed to be on the way to a very
promising future, the lineup began to splinter with each subsequent
release (1988's Skyscraper, 1991's A Little Ain't Enough), until Roth
was the only remaining member. With interest waning, Roth attempted to
branch out musically on his experimental 1994 release, Your Filthy
Little Mouth (produced by Nile Rodgers), but it was met with a cool
reception, as was his attempt to break into the Vegas circuit around the
same time.
By 1996, Van Halen had parted ways with Hagar, leading to an onslaught
of rumors that a Roth/Van Halen reunion was in the works. The rumor
appeared to become reality on September 4, 1996, when Van Halen and Roth
appeared together at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York to present
an award. Despite the fact that they had recorded several new songs the
previous summer (two of which would appear on their forthcoming Best Of:
Vol. 1 collection), the reunion was short-lived -- Eddie and Roth got
into a near fistfight backstage on the night of the awards show, as
relations soured once again when it became known that Van Halen tricked
Roth into thinking that he was back in the band (meanwhile, they had
secretly hired ex-Extreme singer Gary Cherone a few months prior).
Undeterred, Roth penned a tell-all biography, 1997's Crazy from the
Heat, and issued his best solo album in years, 1998's back-to-basics DLR
Band. When Cherone was dismissed from Van Halen in 1999 after only a
single album (the horrific Van Halen III), rumors began swirling once
again about a possible Roth/Van Halen reunion. With both camps keeping
things very hush-hush, Roth finally broke the silence in April of 2001,
issuing a statement on his website that he and his former Van Halen
bandmates had indeed regrouped the previous year in the recording
studio, but that he hadn't heard back from them in months. Barely a week
later, Eddie Van Halen went public with the fact that he was diagnosed
with cancer; in May of 2002 he reported on his website that his cancer
treatments had been successful and he had "just gotten a 100 percent
clean bill of health -- from head to toe."
David Lee Roth Tickets
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David Lee Roth Tickets
David Lee Roth
07.20.06
House of Blues
Atlantic City, NJ
David Lee Roth
07.23.06
House of Blues
Las Vegas, NV
David Lee Roth
08.04.06
Hard Rock Live
Orlando, FL
David Lee Roth
08.19.06
Dte Energy Theatre
Clarkston, MI
David Lee Roth
08.20.06
House of Blues
Cleveland, OH
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