David Lee Roth opens up about working with Eddie Van Halen
David Lee Roth and his former Van Halen peers didn’t part ways on the best of terms and were prone to artistic differences. However, the iconic singer recently issued kind words while reflecting on his longtime bandmate, the late guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen.
Roth discussed his working relationship with the guitar hero during an episode of his The Roth Show podcast, which was shared earlier this week. The singer famously left Van Halen in 1985 to continue in a successful solo career. After years of failed reconciliation, Roth finally rejoined the band in 2007. The pair seemed to be on good terms when Eddie sadly passed away in 2020.
“My dear departed Ed,” Roth said on his podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Boy, I miss him. I had a ball with Ed. Walt Disney once said, ‘You know what? My love affair with Mickey Mouse was better than any love affair with a woman I ever had.’ I’ve gotta tell ya: playing with Ed, writing songs with Ed, presenting those songs with Ed was better than any love affair I ever had. And some of those songs, I think, might last forever — or until the last syllable of time, like Shakespeare said. They became anthems. Where are they playing ‘Jump’ right now?”
It has long been rumoured that Eddie’s controversial use of synths on ‘Jump’ partly led to Roth’s departure from the band in 1985. Eddie subsequently summoned Sammy Hagar to help lead the group in a more commercially favourable direction. Meanwhile, Roth embraced the glam-metal craze that burgeoned through the mid-’80s.
“I remember when he played [‘Jump’] on the keyboard downstairs,” Roth reflected. “I said, ‘No.’ Well, we reflect the times, and the times at that time was guitars, guitars, guitars; and ‘Jump’ was one of those hybrids.”
Van Halen last performed together in 2015, and in recent years, the surviving members have left fans hopeful for another reunion featuring the band’s three vocalists. Rumours were first stoked when former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted disclosed that he had been contacted to join Van Halen in a proposed tribute tour alongside Joe Satriani. As yet, we haven’t heard anything more on the prospect.
Hear the full podcast episode below.
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