David Lee Roth has issued a new acoustic blues song, “Ain’t No Christmas.”
When it first surfaced in a recent episode of his online series The Roth Show, some fans speculated that the tune sounded like it could represent the singer’s farewell to his days in Van Halen, who have gone quiet since they wrapped up their 2015 with a pair of shows at the Hollywood Bowl in early October.
Roth’s management responded to the recent chatter, saying, "It's poetry. It has nothing to do with Van Halen."
Now, the rocker has issued a direct response via Facebook, stating: “On second thought, if all work is autobiographic, maybe this song is about Van Halen...”
Speculation regarding Roth’s status in Van Halen amongst hardcore fans began when three things happened since last year’s North American shows ended:
- Roth was set to perform with the lineup featured on his 1986 debut full-length solo album, “Eat ‘Em And Smile”, at a Hollywood club last November – a move to work with others outside VH has historically been frowned upon by guitarist Eddie Van Halen – except in the case of his bassist and son Wolfgang, who is also a member of Tremonti and is currently recording his debut solo album;
- former VH singer Sammy Hagar reached out to Eddie via Twitter for his birthday in late January, marking the first public attempt at communication between the two since the end of an ill-fated 2004 reunion tour; and,
- when Roth relaunched his online presence on February 7 – almost 12 months to the day after his social media sites went dark without explanation at the end of January 2015.
Speculation in some corners of the internet based on (1) and (3) is that Roth may have been under a limited time contract with the band and the arrangement had run its course.
No statements have been made to date by either Roth or Van Halen regarding plans to work together in 2016, but that isn’t unusual in a VH camp prone to silence between projects.
On the other hand, Roth may just be having some fun adding fuel to the online fires.
See also:
VIDEO: David Lee Roth releases new episodes of The Roth Show
David Lee Roth launches new website
David Lee Roth to return online with new website launch
VIDEO: Extended Van Halen Super Bowl commercial released
Search Van Halen at hennemusic
