David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
10-02-21, 11:09 AM
#1
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Decades ago, David Lee Roth shouted, “And the cradle will rock.”
The vaunted showman rocked our world Friday morning.
“I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring,” Roth said in a phone conversation that was more a spoken-word performance than interview. “This is the first, and only, official announcement. … You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.”
With that, Diamond Dave announced he is ending the Van Halen era and his own stage career with his five shows at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Jan. 5 and Jan. 7-8.
He quickly added, “I’m not going to explain the statement. The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows.”
And tickets are on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Roth started the conversation by saying, “I ask that you bear with me here. Please try not to interrupt. I’m going to close my eyes and take you on a ride.”
Roth then said he had just spoken to Alex Van Halen, his friend for 50 years and co-founder of the legendary rock band Van Halen.
“Al and I have been talking, and I can’t speak for him just yet,” Roth said, “but he knows what I am about to say.” He added, “We speak to each other constantly, two or three times a day. We laugh like pirates.”
Roth also had mentioned he’d been thinking about “the departure of my beloved classmate recently,” a clear reference to guitar god Eddie Van Halen, who died of throat cancer on Oct. 6. The singer also made an oblique reference to his own mortality, as he turns 67 on Oct. 10.
“I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter,” Roth said.
He mentioned Eddie Van Halen being the first member of Van Halen to pass.
“I thought I might have been the first, frankly … ‘Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me,’” Roth allowed. “And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”
Nonetheless, Roth plans to lay it out totally in the House of Blues shows.
“I know that when I am in the audience, whether you come out with a ukulele or a marching band, all I ask you give me everything you’ve got to give,” he said. “That’s what I did for the last 50 years.”
Roth recalled Van Halen’s lean early years, with covered the first 5½ years of the band’s fabled history. The young musicians made $120 per night, spending most of that money on gas. They were once approached by a police officer while eating at Denny’s in Pasadena, California.
“It was the Saturday Night Supper Club, we’d get there at 3 in the morning, and order everything on the menu, all three three banana splits, the Grand Slam Breakfasts with the bacon, and the ones with the sausage,” Roth said, his voice rising. “We pulled two tables together … This cop came walking in — this was Cop Town — and asked, ‘Who are you all?’ I said, ‘Sir, we’re a rock ‘n’ roll band!’ He said, ‘Do you have enough money to pay for all this?’ And we all pulled our $125 green, crisp, sweat-through-your-(expletive)-shoes, money.”
Roth said he remembered those days “like they were yesterday” and had run through that very story with Alex Van Halen on Friday.
“I just found some pants upstairs. I save some of the old clothes,” Roth said. “I was a size 29. Eddie was a size 26. That’s where we came from.”
Van Halen became a force in rock from the band’s self-named debut album in 1978. Roth tapped into the classics from his era with the band during his January 2020 run at House of Blues, rumbling through “Running With the Devil,” “Panama,” “Beautiful Girls,” “Ice Cream Man,” “Everybody Wants Some” and the famous cover of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”
Famous for his high-leg kicks, ringmaster persona and affinity for Spandex, Roth was the ideal front man for the band’s arena and stadium shows.
Those performances are now part of rock history.
Roth says his backing band at House of Blues is the final iteration of the original Van Halen. The rockers originally from Pasadena underwent several lineup changes over the years, including Sammy Hagar replacing Roth as vocalist in 1985, up until Eddie Van Halen’s death.
“I’ve got a band that is doing what Al and I used to call a ‘block,’ that means 75 rehearsals for one show,” Roth said. “We are bringing it in classic VH style. Alex and I are the only version, that was his message. There is no other variation. There is no torch being passed. There is no other side to this coin. This is classic, in-your-face Van Halen.”
Roth ended the call without taking a single question. His sendoff:
“I’ve given you all I’ve got to give. It’s been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I’ll miss you all. Stay frosty.”
David Lee Roth to retire after Las Vegas shows | Las Vegas Review-Journal (reviewjournal.com)
The vaunted showman rocked our world Friday morning.
“I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring,” Roth said in a phone conversation that was more a spoken-word performance than interview. “This is the first, and only, official announcement. … You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.”
With that, Diamond Dave announced he is ending the Van Halen era and his own stage career with his five shows at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Jan. 5 and Jan. 7-8.
He quickly added, “I’m not going to explain the statement. The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows.”
And tickets are on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Roth started the conversation by saying, “I ask that you bear with me here. Please try not to interrupt. I’m going to close my eyes and take you on a ride.”
Roth then said he had just spoken to Alex Van Halen, his friend for 50 years and co-founder of the legendary rock band Van Halen.
“Al and I have been talking, and I can’t speak for him just yet,” Roth said, “but he knows what I am about to say.” He added, “We speak to each other constantly, two or three times a day. We laugh like pirates.”
Roth also had mentioned he’d been thinking about “the departure of my beloved classmate recently,” a clear reference to guitar god Eddie Van Halen, who died of throat cancer on Oct. 6. The singer also made an oblique reference to his own mortality, as he turns 67 on Oct. 10.
“I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter,” Roth said.
He mentioned Eddie Van Halen being the first member of Van Halen to pass.
“I thought I might have been the first, frankly … ‘Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me,’” Roth allowed. “And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”
Nonetheless, Roth plans to lay it out totally in the House of Blues shows.
“I know that when I am in the audience, whether you come out with a ukulele or a marching band, all I ask you give me everything you’ve got to give,” he said. “That’s what I did for the last 50 years.”
Roth recalled Van Halen’s lean early years, with covered the first 5½ years of the band’s fabled history. The young musicians made $120 per night, spending most of that money on gas. They were once approached by a police officer while eating at Denny’s in Pasadena, California.
“It was the Saturday Night Supper Club, we’d get there at 3 in the morning, and order everything on the menu, all three three banana splits, the Grand Slam Breakfasts with the bacon, and the ones with the sausage,” Roth said, his voice rising. “We pulled two tables together … This cop came walking in — this was Cop Town — and asked, ‘Who are you all?’ I said, ‘Sir, we’re a rock ‘n’ roll band!’ He said, ‘Do you have enough money to pay for all this?’ And we all pulled our $125 green, crisp, sweat-through-your-(expletive)-shoes, money.”
Roth said he remembered those days “like they were yesterday” and had run through that very story with Alex Van Halen on Friday.
“I just found some pants upstairs. I save some of the old clothes,” Roth said. “I was a size 29. Eddie was a size 26. That’s where we came from.”
Van Halen became a force in rock from the band’s self-named debut album in 1978. Roth tapped into the classics from his era with the band during his January 2020 run at House of Blues, rumbling through “Running With the Devil,” “Panama,” “Beautiful Girls,” “Ice Cream Man,” “Everybody Wants Some” and the famous cover of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”
Famous for his high-leg kicks, ringmaster persona and affinity for Spandex, Roth was the ideal front man for the band’s arena and stadium shows.
Those performances are now part of rock history.
Roth says his backing band at House of Blues is the final iteration of the original Van Halen. The rockers originally from Pasadena underwent several lineup changes over the years, including Sammy Hagar replacing Roth as vocalist in 1985, up until Eddie Van Halen’s death.
“I’ve got a band that is doing what Al and I used to call a ‘block,’ that means 75 rehearsals for one show,” Roth said. “We are bringing it in classic VH style. Alex and I are the only version, that was his message. There is no other variation. There is no torch being passed. There is no other side to this coin. This is classic, in-your-face Van Halen.”
Roth ended the call without taking a single question. His sendoff:
“I’ve given you all I’ve got to give. It’s been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I’ll miss you all. Stay frosty.”
David Lee Roth to retire after Las Vegas shows | Las Vegas Review-Journal (reviewjournal.com)
10-02-21, 11:35 AM
#2
DVD Talk Hero
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like he might have some health issues. 
10-02-21, 12:55 PM
#4
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Hmmm, I might want to go to one of those shows. I am going to the Go Go's on NYE or NYD but later that week, I suppose I could.
10-02-21, 01:04 PM
#5
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Dammit no tickets available. Just a couple of opportunistic scalpers asking over $1000 each.
10-02-21, 01:09 PM
#6
DVD Talk Hero
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
I wonder if this had anything to do with why he got dumped from opening for Kiss a few weeks ago? Like why open for a band for 45 minutes to an hour when you can semi-go out on top for a week of headlining shows? IDK
10-02-21, 01:29 PM
#7
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Will go to a Golden Knights game on 1/8 and Raiders on 1/9. BUSY weekend!
Last edited by Decker; 10-02-21 at 01:35 PM.
10-03-21, 12:39 AM
#9
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Will Alex Van Halen be playing these shows? It’s hard to decipher what Dave is saying.
10-04-21, 08:47 AM
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
really reads like he got some bad news recently that was not related to EV. Sad to say but the rock stars of my youth are now all getting up there and starting to drop.
10-04-21, 09:31 AM
#12
Moderator
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Hope his health is okay and he's just retiring because it's time ( and arguably is) and perhaps to focus more on his art. I've seen him with VH and solo several times. Met him once and got him to autograph a copy of the book he put out years ago. I'm sure these final 5 shows will be great and it'd be awesome if Al showed up to play drums.
10-04-21, 09:44 AM
#13
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
As a teen in the 80's there was nothing bigger than Diamond Dave and Van Halen. Everybody wanted to be DLR. I had a friend who was so upset when Roth and VH split, he moped around for days. I do hope his health is ok and it's not the reason why he's retiring.
10-04-21, 10:52 AM
#14
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Shame he's retiring but it's time. Hopefully it's his choice and he really isn't sick. I'll always remember seeing Van Halen in '84 and then Roth solo in '88. Amazing performer when he was young. Saw him again in 2003 and he was bad. Very bad.
10-04-21, 01:14 PM
#15
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Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
10-05-21, 01:30 AM
#16
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
I saw them once with DLR and Wolfgang on bass. For a long time the dream for me was a tour with Eddie, Alex, Mike, DLR and Sammy. That would have been the perfect way to cap their career. It was of course a pipe dream. Glad I can say I got to see them at least.
10-05-21, 01:03 PM
#17
DVD Talk Hero
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
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10-05-21, 03:31 PM
#19
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
That's pretty amazing! Missed it by less than three months. And the venue by 250 miles (and the venue size by a factor of 10).
10-05-21, 11:35 PM
#20
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
His 2021 physical appearance was wrong too. Maybe Vince Neil ghostwrote that part.
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10-06-21, 12:29 AM
#22
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
If you want to hear him say exactly what was quoted in that news story, here's the audio clip
10-06-21, 07:52 AM
#23
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
It would be incredible if he used that outfit in his final show.
10-06-21, 08:58 AM
#24
Moderator
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Great to hear the words come from Dave's mouth. He was always good at the spoken word in his songs - this was no different. It seems quite clear to me that unfortunately, his health is a concern and that Alex will be joining him for these final shows. I'm glad that he and Alex have reconciled and are talking to each other frequently.
10-07-21, 07:49 PM
#25
DVD Talk Legend
Re: David Lee Roth: I’m retiring.
Sucks even if he can't hit the high notes it feels like a era has passed as he and we get older and he must have gotten great joy from performing live.