THE BEAST

Wolfgang Van Halen photo credit: Travis Shinn

David Lee Roth has blasted Wolfgang Van Halen for allegedly "throwing out" some of the singer's invited guests at a couple of the concerts during VAN HALEN's final tour.

In a video posted to YouTube titled "This Crazy Kid.." (originally titled "This Fucking Kid" before being changed, presumably in an effort to make it more YouTube-friendly),Roth recalled the alleged incidents, saying in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This fucking kid, he's complaining the entire tour like I'm not paying enough attention to him on stage. Like Santa Claus coming down the chimney and popping out on Christmas with nobody paying attention. Shalom to the dome, homie. I'm giving him the best. Everything I've got in front of twenty, thirty thousand people at a clip, and he's complaining to everybody around me — the business manager, the security guy, the clothing lady — 'Dave's not paying enough attention to me.' Cut to New York City — glamorous, glistening, shimmering New York City, and we're at Jones Beach with twenty thousand of my closest friends. I walk out into the middle of the stage and I'm gonna do 'Ice Cream Man', and I'm testifying to the brothers, Eddie [Van Halen] and Al [Alex Van Halen], 'Man, this is how many times we've played New York. This is spectacular.' And what I don't know is this kid, this schlemiel kid, has commandeered a couple of monkeys to go in back, behind my back, over to the side of the stage and throw out these two great dames that I invited to be my guests to the show. And these dames are in their forties, okay? Business women. In fact, you aren't gonna believe this shit. This fucking kid, what he doesn't know is that these two dames work for the accounting firm that represent him, not me. But as usual, he, just like his uncle and his uncle's brother, stiffed them for tickets. I know they're gonna do that, so I got ahead of things and I give them tickets. I put 'em way off to the side. And I'm not talking about MÖTLEY CRÜE groupies here. This is the real deal. And they're both carrying big satchel purses, right? Like Gucci. Here we go. And he throws them out of the building. He's teaching me a lesson. What this fucking kid doesn't know, they're carrying the paychecks for all 82 people on the road crew. Nobody tells me till I'm parked in the middle of that fuckin bridge... You know fuckin' Jones Beach, they think I'm gonna freak out. I laughed so hard I spilled my Snapple."

Roth continued: "Cut to Hollywood — that's Gooey Ballyhooey Hollywood. We're playing the Hollywood Bowl [in October 2015]. It's the last two shows of the tour, and Ed's not having a good day this year. So I know, hey, maybe, I always gotta play it like what if this was the last show I ever have with the brothers. This is important to me. We're celebrating fiftieth anniversary here from when we first started arguing over which song is first. Stay focused. The brothers are playing. I walk out on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. This is the very last show that we're playing. And I start getting tears in my eyes 'cause I testify to Ed and I testify to Al that, 'Hey, we started right down the street at a little nightclub called Gazzarri's. We were playing dance tunes and our parents didn't give us shit. We made every penny go right into the gas tank or on to the guitar strings fretboard. Okay, here we go.' We're at the Hollywood Bowl. I'm about to launch into 'Ice Cream Man', and this fuckin kid! He commandeers two muscle monkeys, locates the one dame that is my guest; she's off in the wings of the Hollywood Bowl. They find her, make her do the walk of shame past all the other guests, out into the parking lot and throw her out of the building! Wolfie Van Halen's gonna teach me a lesson by throwing out what he thinks is my girlfriend. But guess what? Not only is this an accountant again, and not only is she carrying the paychecks for 82 of us on the road crew, but she's carrying cash bonuses for everybody there. You may wanna pull over on this next one; you're gonna pee your pants. Remember New York City? It's the same fuckin lady!"

Roth added: "This fucking kid. This fucking kid!

"And that's how I remember my last show with Eddie Van Halen."

With Wolfgang on bass, VAN HALEN embarked on lengthy tours in 2007, 2012 and 2015. The band's final run of shows took place in the summer and fall of 2015. The North American trek included 41 concerts beginning on July 5, 2015 and ending on October 4, 2015.

Back in December 2021, Wolfgang, who joined his father Eddie Van Halen in VAN HALEN at the age of 16 for the band's 2007 reunion tour with Roth, replacing Michael Anthony, was asked about David's retirement in an interview with Consequence. He said: "Dave is a… he's very much a one-of-a-kind [chuckles] sort of guy. We don't really talk, if ever. We were always cordial on tour together, but it's not like I've spoken to him at all in the last six years. But, I mean, he's fucking David Lee Roth. I'm so happy for him and for everything that he's accomplished. And he's just a phenomenal… He'll always be one of the best."

In November 2020, Wolfgang told Rolling Stone about his relationship with Roth: "We're cordial. But it was very business-related. You know, we were always cool, but we really only ever saw each other onstage."

Last year, Wolfgang implied in an interview that David Lee Roth was largely to blame for a proposed Eddie Van Halen tribute concert never materializing. He told Rolling Stone at the time: "What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don't like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to VAN HALEN. After being in VAN HALEN for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It's just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. But, you know, from my time in VAN HALEN, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that's what happened.

"I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth," he continued. "There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say shit, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how VAN HALEN fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it's just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen."

Wolfgang went on to say that he "would really like to do something" for his father, but that the tribute concert idea "never even got off the ground."

"Look at anything that's happened with VAN HALEN," he said. "And look how things have fallen apart. You know? The fact that in my tenure, in VAN HALEN, we managed to do three tours, put an album of original material and a live album out is a fucking miracle.

"People love to pin every decision VAN HALEN has ever made on Dad," he continued. "But Al's the brain. Al has been the guy forever. He's the dude. When it comes to VAN HALEN, Dad just wanted to play guitar. But, you know, Al's mentality, and it's the mentality that VAN HALEN took for the entirety of its band, is that there's nothing worth talking about unless it's happening. So the reason that nothing has been talked about from VAN HALEN, the official channels, is because nothing's happened. And I know how that will stir people up and piss them off. But that's how the operation is run."

Asked what he would say if someone were to assume that the main problem was a certain singer with three initials — referring to David Lee Roth — Wolfgang replied: "I would say 'Do your research on the history of VAN HALEN, and come to your conclusions.'"

Eddie passed away in October 2020 at the age of 65. He had been battling throat cancer and died surrounded by friends and family at a Santa Monica, California hospital.
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VAN HALEN had been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour nine ago.

In early 2019, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984. It has since been revealed that a health setback involving Eddie was responsible for the tour not materializing.

Via Blabbermouth