David Lee Roth doesn't know if Eddie Van Halen will ever tour again
He casts doubt on Van Halen touring again
Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has cast doubt on whether Eddie Van Halen will ever tour again.
Eddie Van Halen was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2000 and, following successful surgery, he was declared cancer free in 2002.
Late last year, numerous websites began published unconfirmed reports that Eddie had been battling throat cancer. Celebrity gossip site TMZ claimed that Eddie had been travelling between the US and Germany for treatment for several years.
Importantly, there has been no official word on the status of Eddie’s health and last autumn his son and band mate, Wolfgang Van Halen, shared pictures of Eddie attending a Tool concert.
Now, in a fresh interview with the New York Times about the bizarre artwork he’s creating during lockdown, David Lee Roth has said he doesn’t know if Eddie will perform again.
Asked if he thinks Van Halen will hit the road at some point in the future, Diamond Dave replied: “I don’t know that Eddie is ever really going to rally for the rigors of the road again.
“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.”
Last October in an interview with Detroit radio station WRIF to promote his Las Vegas residency, David Lee Roth said Van Halen were “finished.”
Asked if he was “bummed out” that Van Halen’s proposed reunion tour got axed at the eleventh hour this past summer, Roth replied: "That's been cancelled a number of times, and I think Van Halen's finished and this is the next phase.
“I've inherited the band de facto — whatever that means. I think it means if you inherit it, carry this proudly. Van Halen isn't gonna be coming back in the fashion that you know. And that being said, Eddie's (Van Halen) got his own story to tell. (It's) not mine to tell it."
Speaking to the Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast in July 2019 about his relationship with Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Roth revealed there’s still plenty toxicity between them, saying: “We have always hated each other, right up until the last phone call.”
Van Halen’s last show took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles almost five years ago in October 2015.