David Lee Roth has dropped some hints about a 2019 return by Van Halen after four years away from the spotlight.
The band haven’t been heard from since wrapping up a North American tour in 2015, but in a new interview promoting his tattoo skin care line INK The Original, the rocker suggests that will change … and soon.
“When we come back through town in the summertime and do the original thing, maybe somewhere sportin’, maybe with somebody famous,” Roth tells staff at Vulture prior to a full chat session. “I’ll make sure we get you all tickets so you can see what we do for gainful employment. My mom still wonders.”
“Next time my rock band will be playing the same place that the Yankees play,” exclaims Roth during the interview, and when pressed to confirm a Yankee Stadium concert by Van Halen in 2019, he replies, “Yeah, but I can’t … If I say something on tape here and everybody goes, ‘Oh, this leaked…’ But, the band will be — I can’t say.”
With Van Halen activity “around the corner by a hundred days,” the rocker adds, “Well, I don’t know how far this privacy actually goes. But the band is solvent. And I can say that I contacted colleagues about being part of the show – Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jason Aldean, the Foo Fighters, [Eric] Church, and [Chris] Stapleton. And they all said that, if everything happens, they would certainly be involved.”
Although Van Halen missed the opportunity for a 2018 trek to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1978 self-titled debut album, Roth summarizes the band’s approach to touring since his return the lineup in 2007.
“There’s a time-capsule element that goes along with my kind of music,” he says. “You can’t keep serving it every year. We’re on a James Bond schedule, every three-and-a-half summers, so you don’t go, ‘Weren’t you just here?’ and then we’d start selling fewer tickets. That happened with the third Pirates [Of The Caribbean] movie. Johnny Depp was scarred, emotionally. But classic rock is great. It funded everything we’re doing today.”
See also:
David Lee Roth launches tattoo skin care line Ink The Original
VIDEO: Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth performs at private benefit show
David Lee Roth: 1985 Crazy From The Heat film script surfaces online
Wolfgang Van Halen completes debut solo album
Search Van Halen at hennemusic
