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David Lee Roth, also known as Diamond Dave, (born October 10, 1954[1] in
Bloomington, Indiana) is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor,
author, and radio personality, best known for his work with the band Van
Halen and his fast-talking, oversized personality.
In the eyes of countless hard rock fans, David Lee Roth is the prototypical
frontman. With a flamboyant, larger-than-life stage presence and a party
hearty/surfer dude persona (not to mention his acrobatic leaps, long mane of
blond hair, and skintight spandex outfits), Roth was an integral part of Van
Halen's meteoric rise to global dominance from 1978 through 1984.
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Born on October 10, 1955, in Bloomington, IN, Roth was introduced to music
at an early age, via his father's affinity for Al Jolson, Ray Charles, Frank
Sinatra, and Louis Prima. By the dawn of his teenage years, his family had
relocated to California, and by the early '70s, Roth had become a major rock
fan (Led Zeppelin, Black Oak Arkansas, Grand Funk, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper,
etc.). Roth was soon singing in local bands, including the Red Ball Jets,
who would play shows along with another up-and-coming rock band from
Pasadena, CA -- Mammoth. The members of Mammoth, which included brothers
Eddie (guitar) and Alex (drums) Van Halen, would often borrow Roth's PA
system for their gigs, and a friendship was struck up. Soonafter, Roth was
asked to join forces with the Van Halen brothers, who had enlisted a new
bassist as well, Michael Anthony. The new quartet decided on a name change
by the mid-'70s as they played the Sunset Strip -- Van Halen (reportedly
Roth's idea). By 1977, the quartet was signed to Warner Bros, and 1978 saw
the release of their landmark self-titled debut, one of rock's all-time
great recordings. Mixing heavy metal riffs with punk's fury, Van Halen was
onto a whole new sound, which resulted in the band taking the world by storm.
The band issued a string of classic mega-selling albums (1979's Van Halen II,
1980's Women & Children First, 1981's Fair Warning, 1982's Diver Down, and
two years later, 1984), while becoming a major arena-headlining concert draw
in the process. Just as the group had hit their peak and appeared they could
do no wrong, Roth issued a four-track solo EP in 1985, Crazy From the Heat,
with rumors swirling that the group was bickering behind the scenes and that
the singer was going to make a major motion picture. Still, it was a shock
to rock fans everywhere when Roth left Van Halen later that year (Van Halen
would soldier on with Sammy Hagar filling Roth's spot) -- leading to a war
of words in the press. When his plans for the movie proved to be a bust,
Roth immediately formed a top-notch solo band, consisting of ex-Talas
bassist Billy Sheehan (often called "the Eddie Van Halen of bass"), ex-Frank
Zappa guitarist Steve Vai, and ex-Maynard Ferguson drummer Gregg Bissonette.
In 1986, Roth issued his first full-length solo effort, Eat Em & Smile,
which was another hit and gave way to another sold-out tour. Roth had also
become a master of creating hilarious and highly original music videos (featuring
a wide assortment of wacky characters), especially Van Halen's "Hot for
Teacher," and Roth's solo clips "California Girls," "Just a Gigolo," "Yankee
Rose," and "Goin' Crazy." But while Roth's new solo band seemed to be on
their way to a very promising future, the lineup began to splinter with each
subsequent release (1988's Skyscraper, 1991's A Little Ain't Enough), until
Roth was the only remaining member. With interest waning, Roth attempted to
branch out musically on his experimental 1994 release, Your Filthy Little
Mouth (produced by Nile Rodgers), but it was met with a cool reception, as
was his attempt to break into the Vegas circuit around the same time. By
1996, Van Halen had parted ways with Hagar, leading to an onslaught of
rumors that a Roth/Van Halen reunion was in the works. The rumor appeared to
become reality on September 4, 1996, when Van Halen and Roth appeared
together at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York to present an award.
Despite the fact that they had recorded several new songs the previous
summer (two of which would appear on their forthcoming Best Of: Vol. 1
collection), the reunion was short-lived -- Eddie and Roth got into a near
fist fight backstage on the night of the awards show, as relations soured
once again when it became known that Van Halen tricked Roth into thinking
that he was back in the band (meanwhile, they had secretly hired ex-Extreme
singer Gary Cherone a few months prior). Undeterred, Roth penned a tell-all
biography, 1997's Crazy From the Heat, and issued his best solo album in
years, 1998's back-to-basics DLR Band. When Cherone was dismissed from Van
Halen in 1999 after only a single album (the horrific Van Halen III), rumors
began swirling once again about a possible Roth/Van Halen reunion. With both
camps keeping things very hush-hush, Roth finally broke the silence in April
of 2001, issuing a statement on his website that he and his former Van Halen
bandmates had indeed regrouped the previous year in the recording studio,
but that he hadn't heard back from them in months. Barely a week later,
Eddie Van Halen went public with the fact that he was diagnosed with cancer. |
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