During a new interview with Ariel Levy, Alex Van Halen said he wanted David Lee Roth in the band to save $20.
“We’d been gigging, and we were paying a lot of money to his PA, and it just didn’t make any sense to me,” the drummer recalled about the time they tried out with DLR. “‘Ed, why do we pay him 20 bucks a night for PA? If he’s in the band, we can save 20 bucks.’ You gotta combine everything, man. You gotta make things work, stretch.”
Alex added, “So we went to this house. And we, long story short, we drank a few shots of this, that, and he was very entertaining and very articulate and very convincing in that he should be in the band. And so at the end of the night, Ed and I are going all over all the things that our dad has said, and we said, ‘Yes,’ just like that, ‘You’re in.’”
In the same chat, the rocker also talked about Diamond Dave’s failed first audition. He said, “We started playing a song, and by the time we were done, Dave finally took a first word. Which is a slight exaggeration, but he had a real long drawl. When it was apparent that this was not gonna work, the first thing Ed did is he left the room: ‘All yours, Al!’”
He continued, “Oddly enough, I must say, I had nothing but respect for Dave, because he was there, he gave it his best shot, and from my view, he did not take it lightly. So all I could say was, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is gonna work.’ So we left on amicable terms, until the next two years go by.”
Roth worked with the Van Halen brothers starting from 1972 to 1985. Roth left the band when they were at their peak. Many were confused by his decision. Some thought he left for his solo career, but it was more complicated. Before leaving, Roth released his EP, ‘Crazy from the Heat,’ and planned to keep working with the band. However, he felt disconnected, lonely, and frustrated.
“The bottom line is I wanted more control,” Roth said in 2014. “I was always butting heads with Ted Templeman about what makes a good record. My philosophy has always been I’d rather bomb with my own music than make it with other people’s music.”
DLR later returned to Van Halen in 2007 and stayed with them until the band ended after Eddie’s death in 2020.