Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has announced his plans to retire from music.
The 66-year-old vocalist has confirmed that his last ever shows will be his five-date residency at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The shows start on New Year’s Eve and conclude on 8th January 2022.
Diamond Dave told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday (1st October): “I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring.
“This is the first, and only, official announcement. … You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.”
He added: “I’m not going to explain the statement. The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows.”
Dave also said that the death of Eddie Van Halen in 2020 has made him think about his own future, explaining: “I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter.
“I thought I might have been the first (member of Van Halen to die), frankly … ‘Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me.’”
“And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Dave said he’s in constant conversation with Alex Van Halen and the drummer knows of his retirement plans.
“Al and I have been talking, and I can’t speak for him just yet, but he knows what I am about to say. We speak to each other constantly, two or three times a day. We laugh like pirates.”
He ended the conversation by saying: “I’ve given you all I’ve got to give. It’s been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I’ll miss you all. Stay frosty.”
David Lee Roth joined Van Halen when they were still called Mammoth in the early 1970s and remained with the band until 1985. Aside from a brief reunion in 1996 to record songs for Van Halen’s ‘Best Of’ album, David Lee Roth officially rejoined the band in 2007.
Van Halen’s last concert took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in October 2015, five years before Edde Van Halen’s untimely death.
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