The Story of How David Lee Roth Left Van Halen

Happier times for Eddie and Diamond Dave

When you look at how Van Halen originally broke up in 1985, the truth about David Lee Roth leaving is a cloudy affair.

It's generally accepted that Roth left the band to pursue a solo career, however that may not be the real story.

To get to the point of the Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex, feuding big time with Diamond Dave, we need some context.

Now according to a former Van Halen employee, Pete Angelus (former Van Halen lighting director, creative consultant and Black Crowes manager), the band had decided to take a year off and recharge after pretty much consistently touring since the first album came out. During that break, Roth was going to work on a movie, Crazy From the Heat, (it was never made).

Despite all band members being on board for the hiatus, according to Angelus, a story appeared in Rolling Stone (in July 1984) saying Roth had quit the band. Now according to Angelus, Alex Van Halen told him the band didn't want to wait around while Roth made the movie and that it was "bullshit ... we're not going to be in a holding pattern to Dave's whims."

Talk to the Van Halen brothers and they'll yell to the top of the mountain Roth left the band.

In early 1985, there were signs that all was not well in the Van Halen camp.

Roth released his EP Crazy From the Heat in late January 1985, a four-song collection that contained nothing written by Roth. They were all covers. Then in February, he was quoted as saying "We’ll be going back in the studio and start arguing again and we all look forward to that. ... We have a lot of respect for each other and get along quite well, actually.”

Not true. They weren't getting along at all.

According to reports Roth and Eddie met in March to go over the future of the band. One thing they surely chatted about was Roth making the movie. Turns out he wanted Eddie to do the score and soundtrack. Eddie said "no".

Concerning that meeting, Eddie told Rolling Stone in a 1986 article the discussion came to a grinding halt, with Roth declaring, “I can’t work with you guys anymore. I want to do my movie. Maybe when I’m done, we'll get back together.”

So from Eddie's point of view, it appears there was no talk of a year's hiatus.

Now it should be noted the Van Halen brothers fired their manager, Noel Monk, in April 1985, despite desperate pleas from Roth to keep Monk on board. With no intermediary between Roth and the brothers, things quickly fell apart. With no glue keeping the egos in check, there was no hope of Eddie and Roth reconciling.

Van Halen Likely Broke Up in March, 1985

And publicly, there was no talk of the band breaking up, even by April 1, April Fool's Day and the one most have pegged as the day Diamond Dave departed.

The mighty Van Halen in 1984

The first public knowledge came in the summer of 1985, when Rolling Stone noted on July 4 that "Van Halen is on permanent hold. Eddie, who’s rumored to be scouting around for a new lead singer, is writing songs with Patty Smyth and planning to collaborate with Pete Townsend. As for David Lee Roth, he intends to pursue an acting career full time and is developing his own movie."

At that time, neither Eddie or Roth had said anything publicly.

But the silence from the Van Halen camp ended in August when Eddie declared, in Rolling Stone: "The band as you know it is over. Dave left to be a movie star . . . He even had the balls to ask if I’d write the score for him."

The guitar virtuoso went on to state: "I’m looking for a new lead singer ... it’s weird that it’s over. Twelve years of my life putting up with his bullshit."

So clearly there is a discord between the brothers and Roth and whether or not they were taking a year off, as Angelus stated, or were breaking up because Roth wanted to be a movie star (as the Van Halen brothers have said).

The inclination is to believe Eddie and Alex. Roth is a master of spin control and verbal diarrhea. And it's interesting to note Angelus went on to become one half of the Roth solo video team as a one of the Fabulous Picasso Brothers, so clearly his best (monetary) interests were tied to the Roth camp.

The Van Halen feud became one of the most notorious in rock and roll.

See how Van Halen's amazing 5150 album came together with Sammy Hagar

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Eddie Van Halen - Master Rhythm Player

Eddie Van Halen riffing it up live in 1980

While he's mostly recognized and lauded for his lead playing, there's no doubt the late Eddie Van Halen is also one of the best rhythm guitar players you'll ever hear in rock.

In fact, Edward Van Halen, who died on Oct. 6, 2020, should be put up on the rhythm-playing pedestal with Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards.

Fans and musicians can talk forever about how good "Eruption" is or the stellar solo on "Ice Cream Man", but when you listen to the first ever song on the first ever full Van Halen album, "Runnin' with the Devil", you quickly realize Eddie's got that uncanny feel and oh-so-smooth swing when it comes to playing rhythm. "Runnin with the Devil", while being a fairly simply riff, has an undeniable hook that still sounds so fresh almost 40 years later. It also showcases his penchant for triads.

And Eddie is certainly happy to be recognized for his rhythm playing.

"Real musicians actually respect me more for my rhythm-guitar playing than my soloing," said Van Halen in a Rolling Stone interview from 2008. "'Cause soloing is almost like pissing up a rope, showing off – unless you're truly improvising off the melody of the song. But I'm actually a very rhythmic player 'cause I'm the only guitarist in the band. So I gotta cover both."

Eddie has noted he was influenced and inspired by the likes of Iommi (especially Black Sabbath's "Into the Void"), Cream, and Malcolm Young (Eddie said "Down Payment Blues" is an all-time fave of his).

Another prime example of a stellar Van Halen riff is "Mean Street", which showcases his choice of notes and phrasings combined with his picking ability.

Through the entire canon of Van Halen albums, Eddie has always contributed amazing riffs with "5150" being another classic track that often gets overlooked.

Eddie Van Halen certainly doesn't get enough kudos for his riffs and rhythm, which is really too bad, because he's one of the best. Ever.

See the five most underrated Van Halen songs from the David Lee Roth era

Eddie Van Halen & Randy Rhoads: Duelling Guitarists

Van Halen & Rhoads molded modern metal guitar

It's 1977 and the hard rock scene in Los Angeles is thriving in booze-soaked, Hollywood bars like the Starwood and Whisky thanks to two local bands: Van Halen and Quiet Riot.

The former would sign a mega record deal and become one of the best selling hard rock bands of all time. Quiet Riot would hit a high in 1983, then fall into hair metal obscurity shortly thereafter.

Despite their differing career trajectories, in 1977 both bands boasted two of the greatest guitarist of all time in Edward Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, both of whom have since passed away.

The two axe slingers would never hang out, but they did cross paths several times back in the day.

In 1976 (or '77), Rhoads first saw Van Halen and came away from the show "devastated" according to former girlfriend, Jan. That's because Rhoads was the acknowledged top dog in Burbank, with fans constantly telling him how awesome he was. Seeing Eddie Van Halen play was a real eye opener for Rhoads, but he was also inspired by what he saw and heard. He thought Van Halen was amazing and he wanted to be amazing as well.

According to a Rhoads biography, the two actually met four times before Rhoads' untimely and tragic death in 1982.

One such instance was in April 1977 at a Glendale College gig. Quiet Riot opened for Van Halen. The unassuming Rhoads approached Eddie and asked him how he kept his guitar in tune without a tremolo locking nut. Eddie refused to tell him, saying it was his secret. This came as a bit of shock for Rhoads, who was into sharing ideas and teaching others to become better guitar players. It must have been like a verbal slap in the face.

At the time in Quiet Riot, Kevin DuBrow was the de facto band leader with the goal of getting U.S. record deal. To that end, DuBrow focussed the band on writing more radio friendly songs, which didn't really allow Rhoads to spread his wings and flourish like he did when he joined the Blizzard of Ozz band in 1979.

So Randy would play a lot of Van Halen's licks live. He told journalist John Stix it killed him to that, but added it’s just flash, and that’s what the kids want to see. That’s what impresses them. He also said that it kills him because he believes in the importance of finding your own voice and style. Rhoads thought the worst thing a guitar player could do was copy someone else.

Van Halen watched Rhoads Play Live Several Times

Now it should be known that both guitarists admired each other. Former Quiet Riot drummer Drew Forsyth has said on record the Eddie/Randy rivalry has been made up to be so much more than it was. Forsyth also noted Eddie used to come watch Randy play way more than Randy used to go see Van Halen play.

There's also the story of how Rhoads went to a music store to buy some classical records in 1982 during a break on the Diary of Madman tour and saw Eddie Van Halen there. Apparently Eddie was picking up a copy of "Diary of a Madman".

Over the years, Eddie hasn't said much about his late contemporary. There is one interview from 1982 that was on Youtube (which has since been taken down) where Eddie is quoted as saying "yeah, well, he didn't do anything that I hadn't done", which drew plenty of criticism - not only from Rhoads fans, but guitar players and other musicians as well.

The two couldn't be more different in their styles and each contributed massively to hard rock, with Rhoads pretty much helping establish neo-classical metal as a heavy metal sub-genre, while Van Halen was the guy every guitarist wanted to be like and he spawned a host of hair metal fret-master-wannabes in the 1980s.

As music fans, we can be thankful for both Randy Rhoads and the late, greta Eddie Van Halen who died in October 2020 after suffering from cancer. It's just unfortunate Rhoads' body of work is so small.

Read our look at the life and times of Randy Rhoads

Van Halen's Five Most Underrated Songs with Sammy Hagar

Van Halen's OU812 album celebrated its 29th birthday on May 24, so we figured we'd take a look at some of the band's most underrated songs from the Sammy Hagar era - tracks that weren't big hits like "When It's Love" and "Why Can't this be Love?". With Hagar, Van Halen recorded four studio albums that all went to No. 1 on the charts. Here are five of the most underrated songs with Hagar on vocals:

Humans Being (single from the Twister Soundtrack)

Released in 1996 for the Twister soundtrack, "Humans Being" has a heavy, alternative rock edge, with that classic Van Halen melody and harmony during the chorus. It was the last recording with Sammy Hagar before he left the band in June 1996. The acrimony between the Van Halen brothers and Hagar (that started during writing the Balance album) was showing when they wrote this song as evidenced by the fact the bros. didn't like Hagar's original lyrics ("Sky turning black/knuckles turning white/headed for the suck zone") and he had to come up with new words. All in all, it's a fantastic song at a time when Hagar was about to quit.

Source of Infection (from OU812)

An all-out rocker, "Source of Infection" is Van Hagar at their best, with phenomenal harmonies, Eddie Van Halen delivering a mega riff, and Sammy Hagar screaming madly about sex. Eddie's first solo harkens back to the sound of the bands early albums, complete with a vintage pick scrapeto cap it off, as the band powers back into the infectious chorus. Interestingly, Hagar was somewhat unhappy with the song because of the lame and "politically incorrect" lyrics, but noted the band didn't care.

Feelin' (from Balance)

The last song on Balance, "Feelin" is a stellar Van Halen power ballad with lyrics that might depict Hagar's mindset at the time about being in Van Halen as he noted everytime he said black, Eddie said white and they couldn't agree on anything. The solo is fantastic as Alex kicks it into double time, no rhythm guitar overdubs. A keyboard (string?) section over the last section adds a dark mood to what is a stellar song.

Seventh Seal (from Balance)

The opening track on the Balance record, "Seventh Seal" has a certain groove to it really makes the song a standout from the Sammy Hagar era. Part of that groove comes from Eddie's amazing ability to play rhythm guitar so smoothly as you can hear from that amazing opening riff. It's one of a very few Van Halen songs with no guitar solo.

5150 (from 5150)

Just a wicked song that doesn't seem to get enough love from fans. Hagar had just joined and you can tell things were going very well as they wrote this amazing song. Eddie's main riff is loose and fun, while Hagar contributed some stellar lyrics: "Always one more You're never satisfied. Share one for all with you it's only one for me. So why draw the line and meet you half the way when you don't know what that means." And you can't say enough about the blistering solo Eddie delivers. "5150" is a song that's best played loud.

Check out the five most underrated Van Halen songs with David Lee Roth

A Look Back at the Making of Van Halen's 5150 Album

After parting ways with original singer David Lee Roth (who left to pursue an ill-fated solo/acting career) after the 1984 tour, Van Halen was a band without a singer.

In the spring of 1985, Eddie, Alex and bassist Michael Anthony were having a tough time finding a suitable vocalist to step into Diamond Dave's large shoes. To that end, they even considered using temporary singers on the 5150 record after auditioning the likes of Eric Martin, Jimmy Barnes and even Patty Smyth.

Heck, their record company, Warner Bros., even advised Eddie and Alex to discontinue the Van Halen name. Naturally, they refused.

Then, in July 1985 Eddie met Sammy Hagar after a referral from his Ferrari mechanic. Hagar instantly hit it off with the band, and they began working on the songs that would appear on the album. The first time Hagar appeared live with Eddie was at Farm Aid, in Sept. 1985, and the Red Rocker was formally announced as Van Halen's new vocalist shortly thereafter.

Recorded at Eddie's 5150 studio at his house in LA's Coldwater Canyon, the album was released in March 1986, with nine songs as it came in as the band's longest record to date.

It's the first VH record without Ted Templeman producing, so Eddie, Donn Landee and Mick Jones of Foreigner fame, handled the production duties. According to Hagar he and Landee didn't get along all that well at first.

"Ted Templeman had done all of the albums up to that point," Hagar told Ultimate Classic Rock. "And Donn Landee was the engineer who was running Eddie’s studio and he’d done every album they had done and here was I, walking in from a completely different place in a way and stepping in [(with a) ‘Who’s this guy?’ kind of thing. I got that feeling at the beginning from Donn Landee. He wasn’t particularly thrilled to see me, I don’t think."

So Hagar called up Jones, who kind of took over, which pissed off Landee somewhat, who reportedly locked himself in a room and threatened to burn the tapes up to that point.

"(Jones) came right in to do it and started making decisions about mixing and stuff, like ‘No no no, we need the vocals louder,’ or, ‘No, hey, Ed’s guitar has got to be on the left and not the right,'" recalled Hagar. "I think Donn freaked out or something. I don’t remember why, but yeah, that happened."

New Sound and Mix for Eddie's Guitar

The "new" Van Halen in the preppy days of 1986

Of note regarding the new sound on that album is Eddie's guitar, which previously sat high in the mix and was often pushed to the left channel (to simulate a "live" sound"). On 5150 his guitar tracks sat equal in the mix and while his overall sound had changed. This may have been Eddie's doing, as he was not a fan of the "live mix" that Templeman created on the previous Halen records. This is also the first Van Halen album not to feature any instrumental tracks.

Many of the songs were already written by Eddie before Hagar got onto the scene, so his main contribution was adding lyrics.

The Red Rocker described the 5150 studio as somewhat of a shambles, noting " There must have been 300 beer bottles and cans laying around. Half of them had beer in them and old cigarettes. Every ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts. There were butts left burnt on the floor. That place stunk like a fucking bar that hadn’t been cleaned for a hundred years. Eddie’s guitars were everywhere – maybe 30 guitars, laying against walls, on the floor, just knocked over."

Despite, at first, being nervous singing with the band, Hagar and the boys quickly got into the songs, while Hagar began scatting lyrics and instantly came up with "Summer nights and my radio..."

In fact, Hagar would make up many of the lyrics on the spot, as they were jamming.

"Love Walks In" was one of the first songs Eddie and Sammy worked on together and it's a perfect example of the more poppy, keyboard-influenced sound that permeates several tracks on 5150 like "Why Can't This be Love?"and "Dreams".

But there are some hard rocking songs like "Good Enough", "Get Up" and the hugely underrated title track, which is one of the best Hagar-era Van Halen tracks.

Many hardcore Van Halen fans dismissed the album and Hagar as the new singer, many old and new fans embraced the tracks for what they are: Fantastic rock songs, bottom line.

Check out the five most underrated Van Halen songs with David Lee Roth

Five Great Hard Rock Songs About Weed

It's amazing the influence weed has had on the music industry from the old blues right up to today where many bands celebrate the kush. Heck there's even the Stoner Rock music category now. You'll find many other lists with songs celebrating getting high on 4/20, but here are five songs from some of the best bands of all time:

Reefer Head Woman - Aerosmith

Never a band to shy away from drugs during their heyday, Aerosmith were sure reeling when they recorded a cover of Bill "Jazz" Gillum's bluesy "Reefer Head Woman" for the Night in the Ruts album in 1979. Gillum recorded it way back in 1938, and Aerosmith turned it into a hard rock number. No doubt the Boston Bad Boys were firing up the bong, especially after Joe Perry left midway through the recording sessions on the album.

Goddamn Electric - Pantera

When a band is pounding out lyrics like "your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath - It's Goddamn Electric" you know they've got a good thing going. Pantera's ode to the weed life and great bands is off their Reinventing the Steel album. While it's a nod to weed, the song is about being yourself and living life for you, not someone else - a foundation Phil Anselmo, Dimebag, et al molded themselves on.

Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath

Before Sabbath's 1971 album Master of Reality, few had openly celebrated marijuana and getting high. Then listeners checked out "Sweet Leaf" and learned how Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi enjoyed firing up the fatties. It's an open celebration of weed with Butler's lyrics personifying marijuana as a new love. The coughing at the start of the song is courtesy of Iommi after a huge bong hit.

Amsterdam - Van Halen

Everybody's favourite party band released "Amsterdam" on the hugely underrated Balance album in 1995. Essentially a song about the the famous Dutch city, it was unusual for Van Halen to openly talk about drugs on any previous songs. To that end, Eddie and Alex Van Halen were apparently not in favour of Sammy Hagar's lyrics since they thought it did their birthplace a disservice, but the Red Rocker refused to change the lyrics. Interestingly, a video was shot for the song, but MTV sent it back because of the "score me some Panama Red" reference. It was edited out, but MTV never did play the video. And because it's 4/20, do as Hagar says and "Light 'em up!"

Get Ready - Sublime

From a great band with a short legacy, "Get Ready" is more or less a cover of a reggae song by Frankie Paul from 1987. Paul wrote it as a love song and Sublime changed it into a song about getting high and ratted on for doing so. But you gotta love Bradley Nowell singing "Roll out the bong, crank up the song, let the informa call 911". It's a great song you probably won't find on many lists dedicated to Mary Jane.

Check out the five most underrated Sabbath songs from the Ozzy days.

Five Most Underrated Van Halen Songs with David Lee Roth

With David Lee Roth on vocals, the original Van Halen produced six phenomenal albums from 1978-1984. Among the tracks from those records (especially Fair Warning) are many, many underrated songs that wouldn't be considered "hits", yet they are still amazing and sound fantastic today. So with no further adieu, here are the five most underrated Van Halen songs from their time with David Lee Roth:

D.O.A. (from Van Halen II)

The fifth track from 1979's Van Halen II record, "D.O.A." was on the demo Van Halen pitched to Warner Bros., but never made it onto the first album. The song has a kind of punk feel to the riff but with Eddie Van Halen's rhythm ability, he gives it a fantastic groove with Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen in the pocket on bass and drums. Anthony brings his usual amazing harmony to the chorus.

Light Up the Sky (from Van Halen II)

Another track from Van Halen's sophomore effort, "Light Up the Sky" is just an amazing song that was finished in the studio after Eddie came up with the main riff right after the band had recorded their debut album. And what a riff it is. It's a testament to Eddie's chops as a rhythm guitarist, not just his soloing ability. When they played their new songs for producer Ted Templeman to see what would make it onto the album, he really loved "Light Up the Sky". It's only a three-minute track, but there's plenty going on with harmonies and a funky drum breakdown. "Light 'em Up!".

Dirty Movies (from Fair Warning)

A bawdy tale of prom queen turned porn star, "Dirty Movies" is a gem off 1981's Fair Warning. The intro is wicked and sets the tone for the rest of the song as Alex Van Halen lays down a cool drum beat, Eddie chirps in some harmonics, some noodling, then it all kicks in with some virtuoso slide playing. Interestingly on his hand-written lyrics, Lee Roth changes the lyric from "go see Genie now" (perhaps alluding to the gal's name) to "go see baby now". The chorus is a perfect Van Halen effort, and Roth's chants of "take it off, take it all off" are perfect. Eddie's slide soloing during the last chorus is a particular highlight of this amazingly underrated track. It's a song that wasn't played live until 2015.

Sinner's Swing (from Fair Warning)

Once you hear that opening guitar riff on "Sinner's Swing", you know you're in for a ride. It's a hard rock anthem with some serious guitar crunch and a spectacular chorus. According to Eddie Van Halen, it was "spontaneous, first take". You can hear the solo was a first take as Eddie gets a tad sloppy near the end, but that makes it all the more better. The working title was "Get Out and Push" and it was a live staple on the Fair Warning tour in 1981.

Girl Gone Bad (from 1984)

Don't count out the second last song from 1984. That amazing riff came to Eddie Van Halen one night in a hotel room he and then-wife Valerie Bertinelli were in. Eddie woke up with the idea in the middle of the night and had to put it on tape. So he ended up recording it in the closet so as not to wake his wife up. The guitar on "Girl Gone Bad" is drivingly frantic - classic Van Halen. If it's a been a while since you listened to it, do yourself a favour and crank it up again.

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Check out how Led Zeppelin created Led Zeppelin IV in 1971.

Plenty of Smoke Around Van Halen Reunion with Hagar and Roth

Is it just coincidence that Sammy Hagar plans on divulging his ultimate Van Halen setlist with both he and David Lee Roth touring with the band?

Or Hagar is just getting the blood flowing a little bit and some publicity for himself ahead of airing his Best of Both Worlds setlist this weekend (Sat. March 25 and Sun. March 26) on his radio show (Top Rock Countdown)?

The timing might just be a coincidence considering yesterday was the anniversary of the release date of 5150 (March 23, 1986), and the anniversary of his first live show with Van Halen on March 27, 1986 in Shreveport, La.

But given how much has been said lately about a tour with both Van Halen frontmen, there might just be some fire along with the smoke.

To wit, ousted bassist Michael Anthony said in February he's open to reuniting with Eddie and Alex Van Halen, even though they treated him like garbage. He spoke with Alex in 2016 after the two hadn't communicated for more than a decade.

Now we have Hagar openly musing about a reunion with he and Roth trading off their Van Halen songs, with Anthony back on bass.

The Red Rocker has clearly stated several times that any version of a Van Halen reunion must involve Anthony, who was canned in 2007, to be replaced by Eddie's son, Wolfgang.

And, for Hagar, anyways, it wouldn't be about the money.

"For me, no money, man. I don’t need money. I would do that for the fans and give the money to food banks or something," said Hagar earlier this month. "I’m not sure anybody else would agree with me, but that would interest me enough to sit down across the table from everybody and work that one out."

Roth and Hagar did tour together, in 2002 without the Van Halen brothers, and when it was over, Hagar vowed he'd never do shows with Roth again.

If - and that's a big if - any Van Halen tour with both singers happens, it'll be next year. 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Van Halen I, which came out on Feb. 10, 1978.

Possible Setlist for a Van Halen Show with both Roth and Hagar

* In no particular order

• Best of Both Worlds
• Panama
• Jump
• 5150
• Cabo Wabo
• Right Now
• Ain't Talkin Bout Love
• Poundcake
• Jamie's Crying
• Summer Nights
• Unchained
• Why Can't This Be Love
• Where Have All The Good Times Gone
• Cradle Will Rock
• Source of Infection
• You Really Got Me
• Dreams