LoungeMachine
02-05-2008, 12:03 AM
A timeline of the Van Halen dramas
By THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Scripps Howard News Service
Monday, February 04, 2008
A timeline of the David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen feud:
-- 1972-74: David Lee Roth auditions for -- and fails to get -- the frontman job for Eddie's band, Mammoth. However, the band does rent Roth's PA system for a reported $50 a night -- and eventually gives him the job after Eddie grows tired of singing himself.
-- 1982: With tensions between Van Halen and Roth boiling, Eddie talks to Gene Simmons about replacing Ace Frehley in Kiss, according to Simmons' book Kiss and Make Up. Simmons says he persuaded Eddie to return to his band.
-- 1978-85: With Roth at the mike, Van Halen sells 35 million albums.
-- 1985: Roth leaves Van Halen. Or was fired. He reportedly calls the band's new synth-laden songs "morose" on his way out the door for a solo career. Months later, Sammy Hagar takes his place.
-- 1985-1996: Van Halen goes on to sell 20 million- plus albums with Hagar, but the war of words continues between Diamond Dave and his old mates.
-- June 1996: Roth records a pair of limp new songs with Van Halen, but the reunion implodes after the singer and the guitarist threaten each other after an appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Eddie bristles at Roth's "shtick" on stage, while Roth takes umbrage at how Eddie keeps talking about his upcoming hip surgery.
-- October 1996: Van Halen names Gary Cherone as the new lead singer, prompting Roth's letter to the press that said, "I can't think of a reason Edward would lie to me about being considered for the lead singer when he had already hired someone." Countered the Van Halen camp: "We parted company with David Lee Roth 11 years ago for many reasons. In his open letter . . . we were reminded of some of them."
-- 2000: Roth says he and Van Halen have worked on three songs, and then . . . nothing. Eddie and company merely say the band is "continuing to work in the studio." Talk of a stadium tour featuring both Roth and Hagar fronting the band disintegrates.
2002: Roth and Hagar, the two disposed Van Halen singers, quit waiting for a reunion and head out on tour together. Roth tells the Rocky: "The only thing Eddie Van Halen has really been guilty of over the years is wasted time. I'm frustrated for the audience. Wasting time in a business where three summers is a career -- that's suicidal."
-- 2004: Hagar reunites with the band for a less- than-stellar, less-than-sold-out tour that features a shirtless Eddie visibly impaired onstage, prompting fans in Kansas City and Denver to call radio stations to complain the next day. Despite Alex's protest that "we wouldn't do this if it didn't feel right," a planned second leg never happens.
-- Feb. 2, 2007: The band announces that Roth will rejoin Van Halen for a summer tour. Said Roth: "As far as hurt feelings and water under the dam . . . so what? It's showbiz!" Eddie turns his ire on Michael Anthony, replacing him with his son and briefly removing his photo from albums on the official Van Halen Web site.
-- Feb. 20, 2007: And it all falls apart -- the tour is indefinitely postponed. Turns out Eddie entered rehab, causing the delay.
-- March 2007: Eddie and Alex Van Halen refuse to go to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the Hall doesn't want Roth to perform on his own, so he skips the event as well. Said Diamond Dave: "If Ed ever dries up, this is going to be a stadium act, man. . . . What's happening here with this (induction) is part and parcel of the same spiral that screwed up the tour."
-- Aug. 13, 2007: And it's back on -- the band announces that it's all systems go. Said Eddie: "We are a band and we're gonna continue."
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/30288
By THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Scripps Howard News Service
Monday, February 04, 2008
A timeline of the David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen feud:
-- 1972-74: David Lee Roth auditions for -- and fails to get -- the frontman job for Eddie's band, Mammoth. However, the band does rent Roth's PA system for a reported $50 a night -- and eventually gives him the job after Eddie grows tired of singing himself.
-- 1982: With tensions between Van Halen and Roth boiling, Eddie talks to Gene Simmons about replacing Ace Frehley in Kiss, according to Simmons' book Kiss and Make Up. Simmons says he persuaded Eddie to return to his band.
-- 1978-85: With Roth at the mike, Van Halen sells 35 million albums.
-- 1985: Roth leaves Van Halen. Or was fired. He reportedly calls the band's new synth-laden songs "morose" on his way out the door for a solo career. Months later, Sammy Hagar takes his place.
-- 1985-1996: Van Halen goes on to sell 20 million- plus albums with Hagar, but the war of words continues between Diamond Dave and his old mates.
-- June 1996: Roth records a pair of limp new songs with Van Halen, but the reunion implodes after the singer and the guitarist threaten each other after an appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Eddie bristles at Roth's "shtick" on stage, while Roth takes umbrage at how Eddie keeps talking about his upcoming hip surgery.
-- October 1996: Van Halen names Gary Cherone as the new lead singer, prompting Roth's letter to the press that said, "I can't think of a reason Edward would lie to me about being considered for the lead singer when he had already hired someone." Countered the Van Halen camp: "We parted company with David Lee Roth 11 years ago for many reasons. In his open letter . . . we were reminded of some of them."
-- 2000: Roth says he and Van Halen have worked on three songs, and then . . . nothing. Eddie and company merely say the band is "continuing to work in the studio." Talk of a stadium tour featuring both Roth and Hagar fronting the band disintegrates.
2002: Roth and Hagar, the two disposed Van Halen singers, quit waiting for a reunion and head out on tour together. Roth tells the Rocky: "The only thing Eddie Van Halen has really been guilty of over the years is wasted time. I'm frustrated for the audience. Wasting time in a business where three summers is a career -- that's suicidal."
-- 2004: Hagar reunites with the band for a less- than-stellar, less-than-sold-out tour that features a shirtless Eddie visibly impaired onstage, prompting fans in Kansas City and Denver to call radio stations to complain the next day. Despite Alex's protest that "we wouldn't do this if it didn't feel right," a planned second leg never happens.
-- Feb. 2, 2007: The band announces that Roth will rejoin Van Halen for a summer tour. Said Roth: "As far as hurt feelings and water under the dam . . . so what? It's showbiz!" Eddie turns his ire on Michael Anthony, replacing him with his son and briefly removing his photo from albums on the official Van Halen Web site.
-- Feb. 20, 2007: And it all falls apart -- the tour is indefinitely postponed. Turns out Eddie entered rehab, causing the delay.
-- March 2007: Eddie and Alex Van Halen refuse to go to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the Hall doesn't want Roth to perform on his own, so he skips the event as well. Said Diamond Dave: "If Ed ever dries up, this is going to be a stadium act, man. . . . What's happening here with this (induction) is part and parcel of the same spiral that screwed up the tour."
-- Aug. 13, 2007: And it's back on -- the band announces that it's all systems go. Said Eddie: "We are a band and we're gonna continue."
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/30288