David Lee Roth Back with Van Halen

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Sunday, February 4, 2007

Van Halen is back. Van Hagar is no more.

The rumors were true. Van Halen will reunite with original singer David Lee Roth for a summer tour of North America.

“I am very excited to get back to the core of what made Van Halen,” guitarist Eddie Van Halen said in a statement posted Friday on the band’s website announcing a 40 city tour. No specific dates have been named.

It will be the first time that Roth performs live with the band since 1984, when he was replaced by Sammy Hagar. A brief reunion with Roth in 1996 resulted in two new songs but no tour. Original bassist Michael Anthony will not be a part of the reunion. Late last year he was replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s 15-year-old son Wolfgang.

On March 12 Van Halen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York.

Eddie Van Halen’s guitars made Van Halen into a legendary band but it was just never the same after David Lee Roth went solo. And, man, that was a long time ago. I was a high school senior at the time.