David Lee Roth

At 70 years old, David Lee Roth has this physical status:

In early 1985, Roth wished to record a solo EP, quickly and shoot a film. "We've created a whole retinue of characters," he noted of his vision with Angelus. "It's a genuine film. It's not 'Dave Singing' or 'Elvis'." Entitled Crazy from the Heat, the film was budgeted at $20 million by CBS Films; however, the project folded after the consolidation of CBS Studios.

In late 1985, now separated from Van Halen, Roth assembled a virtuoso supergroup, consisting of guitarist Steve Vai (previously of Frank Zappa's band), bassist Billy Sheehan (previously of Talas), and drummer Gregg Bissonette (previously of Maynard Ferguson's big band). With veteran Van Halen producer Ted Templeman producing, Roth released his debut solo LP, Eat 'Em and Smile in July 1986. The album saw Roth's return to hard rock music, but incorporated some of his eclectic musical tastes, including a jazz cover of Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" and the bluesy, 1960s hit "Tobacco Road". Eat 'Em and Smile met with widespread commercial and critical success, charting at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200, selling over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone. Roth and his band toured arenas extensively in support of Eat 'Em and Smile before returning to the studio in 1987 to record a follow-up album.

In January 1988, Roth released Skyscraper, a more experimental LP featuring the hit single "Just Like Paradise". Co-produced by Roth and Steve Vai under the working title "Cliffhanger", Skyscraper peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard album chart and ultimately sold two million copies in the US. Soon after Skyscraper's release, Sheehan left Roth's band due to musical differences. He was replaced in time for the album's support tour with bassist Matt Bissonette, (drummer Gregg Bissonette's brother.) The international, arena Skyscraper Tour was a major production featuring, at different points during each concert, Roth surfing above the audience on a surfboard suspended from an arena's rafters, and lowered into the center of each arena in a descending boxing ring. Both parts of the stage show were featured in the "Just Like Paradise" music video. The show also featured the band in a calypso segment playing Caribbean steel drums and in an unplugged segment where the band performed acoustic covers of some rock and roll classics. Following the tour for Skyscraper, Vai left Roth's band to pursue a solo career and record and tour with Whitesnake.

Roth hired 19-year-old guitar virtuoso Jason Becker to replace Vai prior to recording his third solo LP, A Little Ain't Enough in 1991. A hard rock album produced by Bob Rock (who had just produced Metallica's self-titled album), A Little Ain't Enough achieved RIAA gold status shortly after its January 1991 release. Before starting a support tour for A Little Ain't Enough, Becker was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, rendering him unable to perform onstage. Guitarist Joe Holmes stood in for Becker during the tour. Later in 1991, Nirvana and grunge rock emerged, altering popular tastes and suddenly making Roth's brand of hard rock seem unfashionable. Roth's band fractured shortly following the tour's completion. With one exception – 1997's well-received DLR Band album, featuring guitarist John 5 and drummer Ray Luzier – until his reconciliation with Van Halen in 2006, Roth would utilize hired-hands and studio musicians on his club and amphitheater solo tours.

In April 1993, Roth was arrested in New York City's Washington Square Park for buying what he described as "$10 worth of Jamaican bunk reefer" from an undercover police officer. The arrest made headlines and became a late-night television punch-line. When asked by Howard Stern whether the bust was a publicity stunt, Roth said, "Howard, in New York City this small of a bust is a $35 traffic citation. It literally says 'Buick, Chevy, Other'. Your dog poops on the sidewalk, it's $50. If I was looking for publicity, I would have pooped on the sidewalk."

In March 1994, Roth released Your Filthy Little Mouth, a musically-eclectic album produced by Nile Rodgers. The album failed to achieve positive critical or commercial success, proving to be Roth's first solo effort not to achieve RIAA Gold or Platinum status shortly after its release. The support tour found Roth playing smaller venues in the U.S., and larger venues in Europe. A remastered Your Filthy Little Mouth was released in 2007.

In 1995, Roth returned with an adult lounge act, performing largely in Las Vegas casinos, with a brass band that featured Nile Rodgers, Edgar Winter, and members of the Miami Sound Machine. It also featured several exotic dancers, who in Roth's words were "so sweet, I bet they shit sugar!"

In the late 1990s, Roth trained as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in New York City, going on over 200 ambulance rides.

In 1997, Roth wrote a well-received, New York Times best-selling memoir, Crazy from the Heat. The 359-page book was a selected collection of 1,200 pages of monologues, which were recorded and transcribed by a Princeton University graduate who followed Roth for almost a year. The book received mostly positive critical and reader reaction, and it helped to reinvent Roth's image as a popular wit and adventurer, with a bon vivant personality.

In 1998, Roth released DLR Band, another album of self-penned solo material. The album featured a popular song, "Slam Dunk", which, like a majority of the album, was co-written by rising guitar hero and longtime Roth fan, John 5. The album was considered a return to form for Roth by critics.

In 1999, Roth contacted the Songs of Love Foundation asking if he would be able to sing a song for an ailing child. He went on to record a "Song of Love" for 9-year-old Ashley Abernathy who was battling leukemia.

In 2002, The "Song for Song: The Heavyweight Champions of Rock and Roll Tour" paired Roth with his musical nemesis Sammy Hagar, and it proceeded to revive the career of Roth. Despite the monetary success and publicity generated by the tour, Roth's future with Van Halen seemed uncertain. "Yankee Rose" appeared in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on rock station V-Rock, while generally, Roth became more visible than he had been in years, such as appearing on commercials for MTV with Justin Timberlake.

In 2003, Roth released an album called Diamond Dave, which included one self-penned John 5 collaboration among numerous cover songs.

In 2004, Roth appeared on the TV series The Sopranos as a poker-playing guest of Tony Soprano. Regarding this, Roth was quoted on his website as saying, "Mom says I'm going to look like Lee Marvin in 10 years whether I'm in movies or not, so I might as well get after it!"

On July 4, 2004, Roth performed with the world-renowned Boston Pops Orchestra at Boston's annual Pops Goes the Fourth celebration. The performance was witnessed by over 100,000 people live in Boston, and by millions more on US television.

In 2006, Roth appeared on three tracks of an album titled Strummin' with the Devil which cover a number of classic Van Halen songs, in bluegrass style. This album topped out at 66 on the U.S. Billboard country charts.

In 2012, he completed another full-length album of new material with John 5 on guitar. Roth confirmed in October 2019 the album will soon be released now that he can start making "real plans" without Van Halen.

In 2019 Roth announced a nine-date solo residency at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino House of Blues in 2020, with shows scheduled for January 8, 10 and 11 and March 18, 20, 21, 25, 27 and 28. He also went on an American tour with the band Kiss, playing 43 cities as the opening act. The first show set list was heavy on Van Halen classics and covers, but only featured two songs from his solo album - "Big Train" from Your Filthy Little Mouth and "Just Like Paradise" from Skyscraper. For the second night, six songs were added and two dropped from the setlist. In December 2019 it was reported that David Lee Roth would be the opening act for KISS on for 43 dates on their "End of the Road Tour". While Roth did complete some of the dates, the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. In August 2020 KISS announced on their website that the tour would commence with Dave and his band opening on some dates. However, by August 2021, the band dropped Roth from their tour, with bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons referring to him as being "past his prime."

In October 2020, Roth paid tribute to his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen by sharing his track "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill," written with John 5 and previously recorded.

In October 2021, Roth announced his intentions to retire from performing following a final residency set at the House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas from December 2021 to January 2022.

Roth was tapped to replace his friend Howard Stern on terrestrial radio, following Stern's departure from terrestrial to Sirius Satellite Radio. Roth's show lasted for four months, and ended in a lawsuit. During the course of the show, Roth maintained a relationship with Howard 100 News reporter Steve Langford. Roth and Langford met frequently after shows, with Langford bringing tape back to Stern of Roth's complaints towards WXRK's management. Issues included Roth's firing, the missing podcast, and his show being cut off early. On Roth's final day, April 21, 2006, he performed the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for Stern and discussed an impending lawsuit against CBS.

Later, on October 14, 2012, Roth began broadcasting a video webcast/podcast on his YouTube channel, Spotify and iTunes.

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