In a recent conversation with Ryan Roxie, Billy Sheehan confirmed David Lee Roth banned bandmates from touching him with duct tape.
In late 1985, Sheehan joined Roth’s band he formed after leaving Van Halen. But the bassist left after the release of their second album ‘Skyscraper.’ The host asked about a rumor regarding a ‘duct tape line’ on Roth’s stage that band members couldn’t cross.
Sheehan Speaks On DLR’s Use Of Duct Tape
He revealed it wasn’t on his tour, ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile,’ but on the later ‘Skyscraper’ tour, and he wasn’t there then. The rocker explained what he knows about the issue:
“That was what I heard. On ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile,’ Steve and I were running across this stage like maniacs, from top to bottom, all over the place. There were no restrictions at all on ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile.’ Nothing. It was a real band and a real show. And then the ‘Skyscraper’ thing was… I don’t know. I’ve heard from…”
When Roxie asked if anyone actually saw the duct tape, Sheehan replied:
“It was there. As a matter of fact, one particular band member stepped over it one night and got in all kinds of trouble for it.”
Sheehan Talks About His Final Moments With Roth
In an interview with I’m Music Magazine last year, the bassist also revealed that DLR faked his vocals on stage. He recalled his last moments with Roth before leaving the band:
“My last moments with David Lee Roth was in the studio. We sang all the background vocals for the ‘Skyscraper’ tour to be on samples for them to use live, which went against my grain to start with. And later that day, I had the meeting which ended my relationship with Dave. Fortunately, I did not go out on that tour with fake vocals. I did sing on that tour, but I did it digitally.”
Sheehan wasn’t happy that Roth wanted to go into a more electro-pop-dance direction with ‘Skyscraper.’ After parting ways with the band, the rocker founded his own band, Mr. Big.
You can watch the rest of his interview below.