Wolfgang Van Halen says that it’s not up to David Lee Roth to decide whether Eddie Van Halen will ever tour again.
Eddie‘s 29-year-old son, who plays bass for VAN HALEN, made the comment shortly after Roth gave an interview to the New York Times in which he said that VAN HALEN is unlikely to perform live anytime soon.
“I don’t know that Eddie is ever really going to rally for the rigors of the road again,” Roth said. “I don’t even want to say I’ve waited — I’ve supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can’t take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He’s a band mate. We had a colleague down. And he’s down now for enough time that I don’t know that he’s going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You’re talking to him.”
After Loudwire posted an Instagram photo of Eddie along with the headline “David Lee Roth Doubts Eddie Van Halen Will Ever Tour Again”, Wolfgang took to the comments section to write: “Yeah I don’t really think that’s up for him to decide”.
There have been a lot of rumors regarding the VAN HALEN guitarist’s supposedly worsening health, including a fall 2019 report from TMZ stating he is battling throat cancer. According to the gossip site’s story, Van Halen has been traveling between the U.S. and Germany for treatment going on several years now.
Last October, Eddie stopped by a McLaren dealership in Beverly Hills and mingled with the sales team, taking pictures and even giving one fan a kiss. A week earlier, he was photographed at a TOOL concert in Los Angeles.
A rep for Van Halen had no comment on TMZ‘s initial report when reached by Fox News.
In early 2019, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984. It’s unclear why the tour didn’t happen, though there has been online chatter that a health setback involving Eddie Van Halen might have been responsible.
VAN HALEN has been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
This past March, Roth postponed the final six shows of his Las Vegas residency due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Roth performed as the opening act for the February/March North American leg of KISS‘s “End Of The Road” farewell tour.
Back in September, Roth said that there were no plans for VAN HALEN to do anything for the foreseeable future. “I think VAN HALEN‘s finished and this is the next phase,” he said, referring to his solo project.
