David Lee Roth announces he is retiring

J

Jimmy9190

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He says he is retiring, he has 5 shows lined up in Vegas, one on New Year's Eve then another 4 in early January next year. He says he is calling it quits after that. I think he is sick and has been told he will die in the near future. I hate to say that, even though I have never seen him live with either Van Halen or the DLR Band what I have seen on You Tube is not that great. The first VH studio records sound great, just not the live "I forgot the ******* words" stuff. There are a very few early VH concerts on You Tube that do sound good, but that was when the band were all still very young.

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/d...vegas-residency-these-are-my-last-five-shows/

This announcement/interview has some cryptic comments from DLR himself. I think it means he does not have long to live and he wants to play a few more shows before he dies. In 2019 Diamond Dave said in another interview "If you saw my X-rays, I'm 65 going on 80"....

https://www.iheart.com/content/2021...lee-roth-has-retired-since-he-drop-kiss-tour/

I hate to say it and I hope I am wrong. Maybe his doctors just told him he is getting too old to be a rock star and to take it easy now. His comments about how short time is make me think different. From what he says in the interview it sounds to me like he may not be with us much longer.
 
Please change your title to less click bait. I saw it, and was worried he died. A more appropriate title is "David Lee Roth is retiring."

Thank you for the click bait anxiety.

ETA: I grew up on Van Halen with DLR, and later Van Hagar, seen them all in concert with both singers, and both singers on their own. All great shows. Crushed when EVH died recently. So, please change your thread title. Yes, it sucks he's retiring and may be sick. I've seen him in recent interviews and he looks very unhealthy thin, I suspect he's been ill for a long time.

ETA#2: Weird that I'm listening to Rush and the OPs icon picture is from a Rush album. Just noticed that.
 
Thread title changed.

I did see Van Halen in 1988 with Sammy on the OU812 tour in the Omni in Atlanta. It was good. I was on the floor, center stage, in the 10th row. It was not very loud there, which may be why it sounded OK. The Omni had terrible acoustics. I also saw the very first concert of the Balance tour at the Civic Center in Pensacola in 1995. Collective Soul was the opening act. That was a good show too but for me Van Halen will always be DLR, Edward, Alex and Mike. Whether Diamond Dave ever sings another note or not, I hope he is OK.

I am a huge Rush fan. I listen to Rush every day. I don't care for Test For Echo or anything that came after it, including the live R30 and R40 records, but am a huge fan of the rest of their catalog. I saw Rush in the Omni too, in 1987 on the Hold Your Fire tour. I was in the nosebleeds for that one so sound quality was not so much of a factor, but it was still a great concert.

Neil Peart's death hit me very hard, even though he retired in 2015. I am still not quite right with that or the death of Eddie Van Halen. I listen to Van Halen on a daily basis too, usually the debut, VH II, Fair Warning or 1984. Diver Down and Women and Children First were and still probably are good records but both records just did not resonate very well with me.
 
The title change is good.

Yeah, the death of Peart and Eddy was really difficult. It's been a really terrible past 1-2 years. Childhood legends dying, in addition to all the madness.

I like DLR and Sammy equally, and appreciate their unique differences. DLR was and is simply incredible and VH benefited from two uniquely talented frontmen. DLR is unbelievably good, but so is Sammy. But, in truth, and let's be real, the true MASSIVE VH hits were indeed with DLR as the frontman - Jump, Panama, Hot for Teacher, and most of their first few albums. Sammy did a great job filling impossible shoes. If I had to put a %, probably 80% of their major hits were under DLR.

Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Diver Down, and 1984 plus his independent career with seriously great supporting musicians....

DLR on his own after VH produced some incredible music with heavy-hitters tool. DLR is ultra charisma. I hope he sticks around healthy for a long time.

DLR will always been a top legendary front man with ultra charisma.
 
It's not surprising, I am a big fan of Dave and his era of Van Halen. He was and is an exceptional/quintessential frontman - but there isn't much left after the death of Edward. His band members keep getting plucked away for more current acts and I think he is feeling the effects of his acrobatic and excess ladien youth. I love Dave, but can you imagine Mick Jagger carrying on without Keith? I wish him the best and thank him for the great memories, starting at Memorial Auditorium in 1984...
 
02SE said:
I got to see Van Halen with the original line up. And later with Hagar. There's no question that Diamond Dave was the better front man.

Time waits for no man.
Click to expand...

Thats one concert I wish I had the chance to go to back then.

Sammy was good but David was really awesome.
 
Thank God, he has not been able to sing for the last 15+ years. Plus, his cabaret style of showmanship in his older age was hard to watch. At least Sammy can still sing, but can't hit the highs like he could.
 
Saw David Lee and VH a couple times at the St. Paul Civic Center. David Lee in his prime, I don't think there was anyone better. Him with Eddie,Alex and the under appreciated Michael Anthony were the best on the road at that time. Van Halen vs. Van Hagar, for me it's Van Halen hands down, primarily because of DLR.
 
Saw DLR when he was very young. He was a jumping fool! Jumped right off the stage! Saw him 20 years ago and he really did not sound good, and was a lot more laid back.
 
As a child/youth of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I believe I grew up luckily in the greatest possible era for a youngster to live, and that absolutely includes music, film, and sports.

I had a steady diet of Van Halen, and it was true ear candy. The first concert I ever saw was about 1987 when I saw Roth with his band, which at the time would have been Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, Greg Bisonette, and some others. I have since seen Van Halen with Sammy, but have to amend my prior post. I was reflecting on this and sadly I never did see VH with Roth fronting. I have also seen Hagar with his own band one or twice, Roth at least twice with his own band, and this includes the amazing 2002 concert where Hagar and Roth toured together Heavyweight Champs of Rock and Roll Tour (also known as the 'Sans-Halen' or 'Sam & Dave' Tour). They put on an amazing show and one would not have known they simply could not get along backstage due to their (Roth's) ego. Cool story on that Roth/Hagar tour. I was front stage left, and caught the guitar pick thrown by Hagar's guitarist, but sadly I cannot remember who that guitarist is. It's in my momentos box.

I usually keep all my concert ticket stubs and have been blessed to see dozens of great bands. I cannot recall better dates of where and when I saw them but I know it's been a handful of times, and for that I feel very blessed. I do wish I could have seen VH in their 1984 prime. And I'll reiterate that while I love Sammy and I cannot knock him, and he's exceptionally great as a front man and musician, DLR is a larger than life type of person and would be impossible for most people to try to replace as a frontman.

If I were starting a band in that era and could pick from any front man, DLR would be near or at the top of a big list of incredible musicians. And the proof is this: Can anyone name a rock and roll band bigger and more successful than Van Halen circa mid 1980s? There aren't many that can compete and that list is very short. It's amazing to think that with Hagar, VH took a dip in success, at least in my opinion.
 
skyactiv said:
Interesting copy & paste fact of him if true:

He is a state-licensed emergency medical technician in New York. In 2012 he said, "I probably have over 200 911 calls on my ticket in the last six years alone. I live a very different life away from music.
Click to expand...

On Rogan's excellent interview with Roth, Roth confirmed that he worked as an EMT in NY. So from the horses mouth this is confirmed. If you want to check it find the Rogan interview, which I've seen and is somewhere on Youtube.
 
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