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Biography

David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954 in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American singer-songwriter, rock climber, adventurer, actor, author, and former radio personality, being best known for his work with the hard rock band Van Halen and for his fast-talking, larger-than-life persona. Though earning critical and commercial success, Roth left Van Halen due to creative differences in 1985, being replaced by Sammy Hagar (of Montrose and HSAS), and Roth went solo. After a short time spent performing t...

David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954 in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American singer-songwriter, rock climber, adventurer, actor, author, and former radio personality, being best known for his work with the hard rock band Van Halen and for his fast-talking, larger-than-life persona. Though earning critical and commercial success, Roth left Van Halen due to creative differences in 1985, being replaced by Sammy Hagar (of Montrose and HSAS), and Roth went solo. After a short time spent performing tongue-in-cheek jazz music, Roth recruited a rock supergroup of Steve Vai (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Gregg Bissonette (drums). The guys released the wildly successful 'Eat 'em and Smile' album on July 7, 1986.

Roth's follow-up work, called 'Skyscraper', came out on January 26, 1988, dividing his fans due to its synthesizer-heavy, pop-fueled style yet having an iconic hit in the upbeat tune "Just Like Paradise". After his solo group's line-up shifted, guitar prodigy Jason Becker (formerly of Cacophony) came into the fold in 1989. Sadly, Becker contracted Lou Gehrig's Disease, and before too long he could no longer play, having only performed on one album (1991's 'A Little Ain't Enough').

Since then, Roth has employed a revolving line-up of musicians in his band. As the 90s went on, the shuffling of performers around him and changing musical tides, styles such as alternative rock becoming far more popular, found Roth's mainstream commercial fortunes diminishing. Still, he kept on touring to his own wild fan-base, and rumors of a reunion between him and his old Van Halen buddies bubbled up again and again.

In 2007, David Lee Roth rejoined Van Halen for a semi-reunion with the Van Halen brothers, along with Eddie Van Halen's son (Wolfgang Van Halen) on bass (replacing Michael Anthony from the original lineup), which lasted into 2008. On December 26, 2011, Van Halen (again with Roth) announced a tour for 2012. In what felt like no time, the rejuvenated outfit released their first album in fourteen years, titled 'A Different Kind of Truth', on February 7, 2012. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.