According to David Lee Roth’s drummer Gregg Bissonette, the singer is a musicologist.
The musician joined an interview with Final Resonance TV and talked about meeting Roth while forming the ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile’ band with Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan:
“He’s a musicologist. I remember the first day I met him, he said, ‘Well, who did you play with before you came down here?’ I told him the truth, I said, ‘I was just playing with Gino Vannelli.’ And he goes, ‘Gino Vannelli?! ‘I Just Wanna Stop’? ‘Living Inside Myself’? ‘Brother to Brother’?’ He knew all about Gino Vannelli.”
Roth Knew All About Who Gregg Had Worked With Before
Bissonette continued, sharing another artist Dave was already familiar with:
“‘What about before that?’ And I [thought] oh man, now I’m really going to be losing him. ‘Maynard Ferguson Big Band.’ And Dave said, ‘Maynard Ferguson? The great high note trumpet player that covered Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’ and ‘The Theme from Rocky’?’”
The drummer reflected on Roth’s following words to him:
“And then he said, ‘Man, if you can power that 18-piece big band, surely you can power the four of us. Payday starts Friday. Let’s go get some Mex food.’ And we got in the cool ‘Panama’ car and had Mex food!”
Gregg also remembered that Diamond Dave gave him a lot of freedom in the band. Roth encouraged him to be creative and try new things. He even suggested he do a solo standing on his drums. Bissonette played with Roth from 1985 to 1992 and has been with Ringo Starr’s band since 2008.
The drummer will be touring with Starr’s All Starr Band in the fall of 2024. They will kick off the tour on September 12 at The Astro Amphitheater in Omaha, Nebraska, and end with a final New York concert on September 25.
You can watch the rest of his interview below.