Former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth shared his thoughts on a recent article about Eddie Van Halen in Rolling Stone. The rocker clarified his point by saying that he thinks not Van Halen fans but Eddie Van Halen was culturally illiterate.
Rolling Stone recently published an article titled ‘Inside A Superfan’s Secret Friendship With Eddie Van Halen,’ in which former music journalist Blair Fischer opened up about his close relationship with the late guitarist over the last five years of his life. As the story goes, Fischer came across an email address supposedly belonging to Eddie Van Halen in a public database.
However, he thought this couldn’t be the late guitarist since it wouldn’t be that easy to reach him. He sent an email saying how the band’s former bassist Michael Anthony was doing anyway. Surprisingly, the person who replied to the email was no one other than Eddie Van Halen. The journalist sensed it was the real Eddie since he sounded very protective of Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced Anthony.
It marked the beginning of a five-year intimate friendship, and they kept talking until the guitarist’s passing in 2020. Blair Fischer revealed in the article that Eddie once opened up about his relationship with David Lee Roth and criticized the singer for just being interested in the entertainment side of music. According to the late guitarist, Roth wanted to do flamboyant shows rather than produce new music.
Fischer claimed that Eddie also said Roth didn’t like AC/DC’s music and called their fans ‘culturally illiterate.’ Diamond Dave broke his silence over the issue in a brief statement released by the Van Halen News Desk. The singer said he’s always loved AC/DC and never called their audience ‘culturally illiterate.’ Instead, he told Eddie Van Halen was ‘culturally illiterate.‘
Here is what Blair Fischer claimed in the article:
“‘The reason it took that long for ‘Truth’ is Roth, including all the rehashed demos,’ he begins. That’s the same reason, he says, the band has ‘nothing but a live record to show for three years downtime.’ Roth, he explains, only wants to be on stage doing his ‘Vaudeville shtick!!’
He then says that ‘Roth is out of his mind’ and not at all interested in rock & roll, which makes recording new music a near impossibility. He says Roth only likes ‘dance music’ and ‘hates bands like AC/DC,’ adding that Roth calls that band’s fans ‘culturally illiterate.'”
After remaining silent for a while, DLR said:
“1. I’ve always loved AC/DC. 2. I’ve never said that anyone’s audience was culturally illiterate. I said that Ed was culturally illiterate. God Bless our Troops.”
Besides former band members’ scandalous statements, rumors continue to swirl around a potential Van Halen tribute tour, yet there hasn’t been any official statement. Although Jason Newsted, Joe Satriani, David Lee Roth, and Michael Anthony all commented on the possibility of the tour, Alex Van Halen remains silent on the issue.
