David Lee Roth Back with Van Halen

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.

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