Alex Van Halen recently spoke about the proposed all-star Van Halen tour that never came to fruition as David Lee Roth refused.
Alex Van Halen says David Lee Roth refused
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, saying that David Lee Roth’s refusal to the drummer’s brother, legendary Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen, prevented such an event from materializing.
As per the article, Roth and Alex had begun rehearsing for the tour with members of the singer’s solo band, with plans to fill out the lineup with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani on lead guitar.
During those early rehearsals, Alex started feeling numbness in his feet, symptomatic of peripheral neuropathy. He had also been in contact with Queen’s Brian May about properly paying tribute to his late brother during the reunion shows, as Queen did with Freddie Mercury.
“The thing that broke the camel’s back, and I can be honest about this now,” Alex told Rolling Stone, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how QUEEN does it, they show old footage.’ And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”
Alex noted that David simply refused to pay tribute Eddie.
“I’m from the street,” Alex said. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your f***ing brains out. You got it?’ And I mean that. And that’s how it ended.”
Alex added: “It’s just, my God. It’s like I didn’t know him anymore. I have nothing but the utmost respect for his work ethic and all that. But, Dave, you gotta work as a community, motherfucker. It’s not you alone anymore.”
Alex said that would not have been physically able to do the tour anyway. “It’s too bad on one hand, but it’s fine on the other,” he said. “Because now, in retrospect, playing the old songs is not really paying tribute to anybody. That’s just like a jukebox, in my opinion.… To find a replacement for Ed? It’s just not the same.”
