David Lee Roth sues Van Halen
ByDec 12, 2002 11:00 PM
Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has filed a lawsuit against his estranged bandmates, in which he claims that the group owes him royalties.
Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has filed a lawsuit against his estranged bandmates, in which he claims that the group owes him royalties.
According to published reports, Roth filed the suit on Wednesday (12/11) in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit alleges that his former Van Halen cohorts --guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony--signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1996, unbeknownst to Roth, for increased royalties from sales of the group’s back catalog.
Roth reportedly claims that the new deal caused him to lose out on a total of at least $200,000 as of the end of 2001.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, plus legal fees, and also calls for an accountant to review the group’s royalties to determine the amount, including interest, that Roth is owed.
Roth, Van Halen’s original frontman, released six albums with the band between 1978 and 1984. He parted with the group on bad terms in 1985, and was replaced by Sammy Hagar.
Hagar was bounced in 1996, and was replaced by former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, with whom the group recorded one album--1998’s “Van Halen 3"--before Cherone quit the group in 1999.
This past summer, Roth and Hagar teamed up for a successful co-headlining tour.
Earlier this year, Van Halen parted ways with Warner Bros., the label to which the band had been signed since its self-titled 1978 debut. The group remains without a singer, and has made no indication of its plans since Cherone’s departure over three years ago.