Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth hit the road together
ByMay 30, 2002 10:00 PM
While the future of their former band remains a mystery, ex-Van Halen frontmen Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth have put aside nearly two decades of mutual animosity to join forces for a co-headlining summer tour.
While the future of their former band remains a mystery, ex-Van Halen frontmen Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth have put aside nearly two decades of mutual animosity to join forces for a co-headlining summer tour.
The outing--verbosely dubbed the Sammy Hagar & David Lee Roth Tour 2002: Song for Song, the Heavyweight Champs of Rock ‘N Roll--kicks off in late May and is scheduled to visit 21 cities. More dates are expected if demand meets promoters’ expectations.
Hagar and Roth--who, in various interviews over the past 17 years, have had nothing but insults and acrimonious words for each other--appeared together at a press conference on Tuesday (4/16) to announce the tour.
Criticized in the past by former bandmate Eddie Van Halen for having insurmountable egos, Hagar and Roth have agreed to alternate their order of appearance throughout the tour.
Roth has released five studio albums and one greatest-hits collection since leaving Van Halen in 1985, the most recent of which is 1998’s “DLR Band,” released on his own indie label, Wawazat. He also recently sent to the press a promotional VHS tape featuring bizarre music-video footage of himself performing martial arts, winding his way through a laser-tag maze accompanied by a mock paramilitary entourage and wetsuit-clad women, posing for pictures and occasionally performing a cover song, among other things. He reportedly plans to publicly release the collection in DVD format.
Hagar has released three solo albums since his 1996 departure from Van Halen. His most recent effort is October of 2000’s “Ten 13.”
Roth fronted Van Halen from the mid-’70s to mid-’80s, during which the group released its first six, multi-platinum albums, but left the group on bad terms in 1985.
Hagar replaced Roth that same year, and the group went on to release four studio albums and a two-disc live compilation, all of which are certified multi-platinum.
In 1996, Hagar and Van Halen parted acrimoniously.
At the time of Hagar’s departure from Van Halen, Roth briefly returned to the group to record two new songs for a greatest-hits compilation, but was bounced, again on bad terms, within a matter of months.
Rumors of a potential Van Halen reunion featuring either Hagar or Roth have swirled since third Van Halen frontman Gary Cherone left the group in 1999 after releasing with the band its least successful album, 1998’s “Van Halen 3.” (Cherone, in a recent SoundSpike interview, said that he has told Hagar that he would like his new band, Tribe of Judah, to open for Hagar and Roth during the duo’s upcoming tour.)
Guitarist Edward Van Halen last year confirmed long-circulating rumors that he was successfully battling cancer, but he, brother Alex Van Halen (drums) and fellow founding member Michael Anthony (bass) have remained virtually silent about the band’s plans since announcing Cherone’s departure.
Roth announced last year that he had recorded some new material with Van Halen during the summer of 2000, but also said at the time that he had not been in touch with the group in months. He subsequently launched a solo tour with a band whose lineup included a guitarist from a Van Halen cover band, and a set-list comprised almost entirely of Van Halen songs.
Earlier this year, Hagar announced that he and Anthony have reunited and, along with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo, formed a side-project dubbed Planet Us. The group hopes to release an album and embark on a tour later this year.
Behind both the Roth-Hagar outing and the Planet Us project is high-powered manager Irving Azoff, who announced on Tuesday (4/16) the Hagar and Roth jaunt, and a separate summer outing featuring another of his classic rock acts, the Eagles.