The Van Halen News Desk reached out to David Lee Roth about the new rumors that there are (or where?) some behind-the-scenes discussions contemplating the possibility of some sort of tour celebrating Van Halen’s legacy. We’ve got an exclusive quote from him, below…
But first, let’s look at the rumors from the last few days…
Joe Satriani says he’s been in talks with Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth about a possible Van Halen/Eddie Van Halen tribute tour.
“I’ve been talking with Alex and Dave for about a year about doing something — a tour, something like that — that was going to be a true tribute to Eddie and the Van Halen legacy,” said Satriani during his recent appearance on the Rock of Nations with Dave Kinchen podcast. “For me, it was a terrifying prospect of doing something like that, but I realized that it was something that would be a real labor of love for me. I was just so honored to take on the challenge.”
Satriani’s comments come just days after former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted revealed to The Palm Beach Post that he had been contacted by Alex six months ago regarding a possible VH tour. Newsted said he initially agreed to go to California to meet up with “the guys” and jam but ultimately declined the offer, adding that it would be impossible to do justice to the legacy of Van Halen.
“How could you?” said Newsted. “There’s nobody that can top it, so how do you show it honor? I didn’t want it to be viewed as a money grab. And then it kind of just all fizzled.”
Satriani likely wouldn’t have commented about a possible tribute tour with Alex and Roth at all if Newsted’s quotes had not gone viral among the Van Halen and classic rock community.
“These things are always happening in the music industry, and you’re supposed to keep very quiet about it because sometimes they don’t work out,” Satriani said. “There’s usually about 10 crazy ideas that float around, and musicians are always like, ‘OK, I won’t say anything about this, because it may not work out. I don’t want to hurt this person’s feelings or disrupt any other business plans.’ So yeah, we were all pretty shocked that Jason wanted to go public with it because we were all sworn to silence.”
Now that Satriani confirmed Newsted’s claims, the big question remains – will this Van Halen tribute tour end up happening?
“It’s very complicated,” said Satriani. “All I can really say about it is that if it does happen, I know we’ll make it the greatest thing ever for the fans, and we’ll all celebrate together. Not only the great Eddie Van Halen but the legacy that that band created, the amazing amount of music and the goodwill and good vibes they created as a band.”
Although he made no mention of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony or Gary Cherone, Satriani said the plan is to represent the entire Van Halen catalog.
“The thought of representing all the eras of Van Halen, that’s pretty daunting,” he said. “Just from a guitar player’s point of view, Eddie progressed remarkably as a player and as an inventor, and those two things, they kind of went together from Van Halen 1 all the way to the last album. And when you sit down to actually learn it and pull it off, you go, ‘Wow, not only do I need talent, but I need certain gear,’ because certain things won’t work unless you’ve got this amp and it’s doing that. So that’s also another thing to deal with.”
The Van Halen News Desk reached out David Lee Roth about the new rumors. We’ve got an exclusive quote from him here:
“IN MY MIND “VAN HALEN 4K”, IN THE AGE OF COVID IS GOING TO REQUIRE TWO OF US FOR EVERY POSITION. SATRIANI AND LUKATHER, ANTHONY AND NEWSTED, AL OR TOMMY LEE. PROBABLY THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD DO MY JOB TODAY WOULD BE PINK..”
Listen to Joe Satriani’s comments on the possible Van Halen tribute tour below:
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