December 15, 1999 - The first Van Halen release of Y2K will feature none of the current members of Van Halen. Yes, yet another Van Halen tribute album has been completed!

Produced by Bob Kulick, this album promises to be the most faithful tribute to Van Halen so far. Every track will feature some of the world's best musicians and vocalists. The preliminary track and musician listing is as follows:

Unchained

Vocals: Jack Russell, guitars: Dweezil Zappa, bass: Marco Mendoza, drums: Eric Singer

Hot For Teacher

Vocals: John Corabi, guitars: Bruce Kulick, bass: Tony Franklin, drums: Gregg Bissonette

Runnin' With The Devil

Vocals: Steven Pearcy, guitars: Jake E. Lee, bass: Tim Bogert, drums: Frankie Banali

Dance The Night Away

Vocals: Joe Lynn Turner, guitars: Reb Beach, bass: Marco Mendoza, drums: Gregg Bissonette

Panama

Vocals: Jani Lane, guitars: George Lynch, bass: Tony Franklin, drums: Gregg Bissonette

So This Is Love?

Vocal: Jeff Scott Soto, guitars: Blues Saraceno, bass: Tony Franklin, drums: Eric Singer

Little Guitars

Vocals: David Glen Eisleym, guitars: Mitch Perry, bass: Marco Mendoza, drums: Eric Singer

I'm The One

Vocals: Mark Slaughter, guitars: Dough Aldrich, bass: Tim Bogert, drums: Frankie Banali

Atomic Punk

Vocals: Fee Waybill, guitars: Brad Gillis, bass: Tim Bogert, drums: Frankie Banali

(Oh) Pretty Woman

Vocals: Gunnar and Matt Nelson, guitars: Albert Lee, bass: Tony Levin, Drums: Aynsley Dunbar

Light Up The Sky

Vocals: Doug Pinnick, guitars: Yngwie Malmsteen, bass: Billy Sheehan, drums: Vinnie Colaiuta

The album should be released worldwide in March 2000. More details will be forthcoming in the new year.

December 16, 1999 - The next DLR Band release will most likely be a live album. All of the current shows are being recorded and are in contention to be included on the disc.

After the success of the DLR Band album (~51,000 copies sold according to Sound Scan - very impressive for an independent label), Dave is keen to keep his fans occupied during the hiatus between the end of this tour and the release of the next DLR Band studio album.

Ted Templeman still hasn't been confirmed as producer of Dave's next studio album, but is tipped as the most likely candidate if everything goes to plan.

As I've reported here in the past, John Lowery has been writing material for the new album with Dave. It's unlikely Lowery will play on the new album due to his commitment to his current gig, Marilyn Manson. Bart Walsh and Terry Kilgore are expected to handle all guitar duties.

DLR Band photo by Mike Hodge - © 1999

December 17, 1999 - Sammy Hagar and Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead) have recorded a new song and released it exclusively on the Internet. Titled Code War Y2K, the song can be downloaded free from the mp3.com web site.

The focus of the song is, of course, Y2K:

• "Welcome to the start of the big unknown"
• "Gonna be a real long night, gonna be a real strange day."
• "Are you ready?"
• "I'm gonna party all the way, party on to Y2K"

To listen to the song, click on one of the links below:

Hagar/Hart at mp3.com
Grateful Dead MP3 Download Site

Special thanks to Tim-o-thy for breaking the story.

December 18, 1999 - Sammy Hagar has posted a special holiday message on his official web site. In the message he thanks his fans for "the best tour of my life" and outlines his plans for the new year.

Hagar plans to get a new song out by Summer 2000, do a short tour with his band, The Waboritas, then work on their next album.

December 20, 1999 - Rolling Stone are conducting "the last poll of the century" on their web site. The poll asks you to choose your favourite artist/band, album, song and musical event of the century.

Van Halen are nominated as one of the bands of the century. At the time of writing they are approximately 26,000 votes behind U2 and Guns N' Roses. With your help, we can push Van Halen up towards the top of the list. To vote, click on the link below.

Rolling Stone: Vote | Current Totals

December 22, 1999 - David Lee Roth's Internet spokespeople have put an end to the speculation that Van Halen may have a reunion tour with both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. When the question was put to the David Lee Roth Mailing List (DLRML), the answer left no doubt about Dave's feelings on the issue:

The one thing you be COMPLETELY certain of is that scenario will never happen.

Dave and his band have demoed almost two dozen new songs for the next DLR Band album, due for release in 2000. More details are promised as soon as formal recording begins.

In the near future, fans can look forward to a new DLR merchandise web site, and a new episode of Dave TV.

DLR Band - December 17, 1999. Photo by BENJ-SPORTATORIUM, MLOCKLIN - © 1999

December 29, 1999 - It's been another big year of Van Halen news! I hope you've enjoyed visiting this site in 1999, and look forward to keeping you up to date with Van Halen and their ex-members in 2000.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed news and information over the past 12 months. Special thanks to the David Lee Roth fans who submitted reviews and photos from all of Dave's shows this year. Your contributions helped raise awareness that Dave's career is far from over. Look for a special report from a private DLR Band gig early in the new year.

I'm off on a two week break, so there will be no updates until I get back. If Van Halen announce anything, I'll be in a place where there is no Internet, so don't have a cow if it's not reported here!