David Lee Roth will do his own Van Halen tribute after he turned down Sammy Hagar’s touring offer.
“It’s gonna be party energy It couldn’t happen but it did,” the singer announced his upcoming appearance at the M3 Rock Festival in an Instagram video. “Me, David Lee Roth, will trouble guitars.”
He added, “Diamond Dave, the boss in the big town bringing the big sound in the big town the way it sounds on the record. Every classic Van Halen tune is putting the boom in the room. Anything missing now is you.”
After Roth refused to do a tribute to Eddie Van Halen during his set, Sammy Hagar criticized the rocker in a Rolling Stone interview last year, calling it ‘pure ego.’
DLR will headline the 2025 M3 Rock Festival on May 3 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. It will be his first performance in over five years. The festival’s 16th edition also includes a reunion of Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini. Accept, Winger, Slaughter, Steven Adler, and Sebastian Bach will perform on May 2.
Pearcy released a statement about the partial reunion at the festival. He said, via American Songwriter, “It’s only appropriate that the first show in years is at M3 2025. It’s about the [band’s] legacy. There was no question when the idea was brought up to me about doing something with Warren again.”
The frontman went on to say, “I know what we can do as a team, and that’s writing great songs and Kickin’ some a– onstage. You’re getting ALL the RATT hits and more. … [L]et the ‘Invasion Celebration’ begin! I guess hell does freeze over. Never say never, right? Pearcy [and] De Martini back in the cellar, let’s go!”
Diamond Dave’s last show was on March 10, 2020, opening for KISS in Lubbock, Texas. He had planned a farewell residency in Las Vegas for 2022, but he retired from touring when the shows were canceled due to COVID-19.
In the past few years, Roth has released solo tracks on streaming services and social media, including updated Van Halen songs and solo tunes from ‘The Roth Project.’ Presale tickets for the M3 Rock Festival were available on January 29 at 12:00 pm EST, and general sales start on January 31 via Ticketmaster.
