Why Did David Lee Roth Retire — And Why Is He Back?
’80s rock icon and erstwhile Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth shocked fans this weekend when, five years after his final concert and four years after announcing his retirement, Roth took the stage at Columbia, Maryland’s M3 Festival, performing an hour-plus set of his former band’s hits, including “Runnin’ With the Devil” and “Hot for Teacher,” according to Rolling Stone. Roth then announced a string of new concert dates for this summer — the first he’s planned since a run of January 2021 shows at Las Vegas’s House of Blues, which were billed as his final shows before retirement, were abruptly cancelled.
Though Diamond Dave has never been shy with the press, he’s been a bit opaque about his motivations for retiring — and unusually quiet about his reasons for returning.
Why did David Lee Roth retire?
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS
Prior to the Maryland festival appearance, Roth’s last public show was a March 2020 gig opening for Kiss; the tour got derailed by COVID (according to Rolling Stone, Roth did perform privately in 2023 for a Home Depot corporate event). He announce his retirement in October 2021, telling the Las Vegas Journal-Review, “I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring. This is the first, and only, official announcement. … You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.”
Roth went on to note that the death of Eddie Van Halen and medical concerns were motivating the move: “I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter … I thought I might have been the first [Van Halen member to die], frankly. I might have thought the Marlboro Man would’ve got me. ‘Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me.’ And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”
He added, regarding a set of “final” shows book for early January at House of Blues, “I’m not going to explain the statement. The explanation is in the statement. These are my last five shows. … I’ve given you all I’ve got to give. It’s been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I’ll miss you all. Stay frosty.”
However, those concerts were cancelled just days before the residency was supposed to begin, “Due to unforeseen circumstances related to COVID and out of an abundance of caution for those working and attending the shows.” The shows were originally supposed to be rescheduled for February 2021, but were later cancelled entirely.
Roth never formally commented on the cancellations, though he did post a painting on January 3, 2021, that seemed to joke about the concerts.
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Was there a secret, cancelled Van Halen reunion?
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Also cancelled? Secret plans for a 2020 Van Halen reunion with Roth and Alex Van Halen, as the drummer told Rolling Stone in 2024. The pair had begun tentative rehearsals, and made rough plans to have Joe Satriani join the band on tour to fill in for guitar god Eddie Van Halen, who passed away in October 2020.
However, as Alex Van Halen revealed, the tour plan was doomed from the start. He began to feel the earliest rumblings of a spinal issue that would floor him in 2022, but the tour ended up cancelled for an even more pressing reason: disagreements between Alex and Roth about how to honor Eddie’s legacy.
“The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex told Rolling Stone, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.’ And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.” The argument escalated, with Alex saying that he told Roth, “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?'” The argument severed the developing reunion — and may have also contributed to Roth’s decision to call it quits.
Fellow former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar also claims he was in discussions for a 2020 Van Halen reunion — but with a different Van Halen brother. As Hagar told the LA Times in a recent interview, “Eddie said to me, ‘Don’t tell anyone about us talking because I don’t want to be answering questions about rumors of a reunion … Next year, we’re gonna get together — we’re gonna make some noise.’ … I’ve never said that to anyone, and I bet you Al[ex Van Halen] is gonna have a f— fit.”
Why did David Lee Roth come back?
During his M3 set, Roth joked, according to Penn Live, “We’ve reached the end of my first retirement. How many retirements did Rocky have, nine?” But the singer hasn’t made any formal comments about his return to live music.
This live show wasn’t the first time fans have heard Roth’s voice since 2020, however. He periodically posts videos to social media documenting his dance moves; in mid-2024, he posted a clip of himself singing “Panama” at home.
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