David Lee Roth shares his thoughts on the likelihood of Eddie Van Halen returning to the road in a new interview with The New York Times.
Van Halen the band have been on an extended hiatus since the completion of a 2015 tour, with a number of reports last year indicating that the iconic guitarist is being treated for throat cancer.
“I don’t know that Eddie is ever really going to rally for the rigors of the road again,” explains Roth in an article primarily focused on his recent line of social media artwork. “I don’t even want to say I’ve waited – I’ve supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual – you can’t take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it.
“He’s a band mate. We had a colleague down. And he’s down now for enough time that I don’t know that he’s going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You’re talking to him.”
No official statements have been released regarding Eddie’s health status or Van Halen’s plans moving forward.
Last year, Roth revealed his belief that Van Halen is "finished", and went on to resume solo performances in 2020 in Las Vegas and as an opener on the KISS farewell trek before the pandemic shut down the live music industry.
Roth battled an unspecified illness during his early 2020 gigs.
“I’m not so unconvinced I didn’t have the corona,” he says. “Man, they gave me enough prednisone to put boots on the moon! We left a trail of groupies, rubble and incandescent reviews. But I don’t want to go back through it.”
Asked by The New York Times if it was difficult being forced to leave the road so hastily, the rocker replied: “Every Jiu-Jitsu magazine has a 28-year-old who’s going to tell you about the two years that got taken away by his elbow. Every kickboxing magazine has a 32-year-old instructor who goes, ‘Well, I lost those three years to my left knee.’ So I’ve just been isolating away. Because I myself am high risk.
“The road will deteriorate you from the beginning or it will keep you alive forever. When we go out, we wear ourselves to a nubbin. I just had a lower back surgery. It was a spinal fusion where they take a chip from somebody else. I’m actually taller now.”
Van Halen were named the No. 2 Rock News Artist Of The Year and delivered the No. 2 and No. 10 Rock News Stories of The Year as part of the 2019 hennemusic Rock News Awards.
See also:
Van Halen: Wolfgang Van Halen streams solo album preview
Sammy Hagar predicts Van Halen comeback
Sammy Hagar performs Van Halen classic in new Lockdown Sessions video
David Lee Roth postpones Las Vegas residency shows
Search Van Halen at hennemusic
