On October 1st, legendary Van Halen/DLR Band vocalist David Lee Roth announced in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal that he was “throwing in the shoes”. “This is the first, and only, official announcement,” he says in the rather brief reveal. “You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.” “I’m not going to explain the statement,” he continues. “The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Roth makes a reference to the death of his former bandmate Eddie Van Halen, saying he’s been thinking about “the departure of [his] beloved classmate”.
I’m not going to lie. This announcement actually made me sad and even a bit worried for ol’ Diamond Dave. “I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter,” he says. “I thought I might have been the first, frankly. I might have thought the Marlboro Man would’ve got me… And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”
Concluding the interview, Roth says: “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.”
I can only hope that this isn’t more than just saying farewell to the stage. It sounds almost as if he is talking about his life possibly coming to a close. I may be reading too much into it but at the rate that my heroes are falling, I can’t help but be concerned for his health but at the same time respect his privacy in the matter.
Diamond Dave is scheduled to conclude his storied career with a five-gig residency in January at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Tickets for the shows are on sale now.
Regarding those final five shows, Roth requests: “I know that when I am in the audience, whether you come out with a ukulele or a marching band, all I ask [is that] you give me everything you’ve got to give. That’s what I did for the last 50 years.”
Earlier this year, the singer joined forces with guitarist John 5 for a country-charged single, entitled Giddy-Up! It arrived as part of the Roth project, a 17-chapter interactive online comic book created and narrated by the former Van Halen frontman.
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