Category: Van Halen

ìGuitar Hero: Van Halenî Reportedly On the Way
Van Halen are rumored to be the next band to get its own Guitar Hero game, Joystiq.com is reporting. The group would be the third with a specifically branded Guitar Hero title, following Aerosmith and Metallica, whose version is set for release on March 29th.
According to Joystiq, GH: VH will feature many of the bandís greatest hits (îJump,î ìPanama,î ìHot for Teacherî), plus recordings by Weezer, Tenacious D and Judas Priest.
While Activision wouldnít comment on the game, the potential of a Van Halen Guitar Hero is already generating hundreds of questions. Will new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen appear in the game instead of Michael Anthony? Will the game feature playable versions David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone, and if itís just Roth does that mean his polygonal doppelganger will sing Hagarís ìRight Now?î Also, will Diamond Daveís virtual dressing room ensure that he has enough room to practice his digital martial arts? We must know.
Of course, it comes as little surprise that rumors of a Van Halen Guitar Hero leaked out just days after their competitor Rock Band revealed more details about their own game dedicated to another pretty popular quartet. As Rock Daily reported last week, The Beatles: Rock Band will hit stores September 9th and feature career-spanning tracks from the Fab Fourís Please, Please Me through Abbey Road. Clearly the Guitar Hero makers had to plot a course of action to compete with Rock Bandís mega-release for the holiday sales, and theyíre hoping the allure of blasting through ìEruptionî and ìHot for Teacherî will ensure two video games are under the tree come Christmas.

Van Halen to Rock On With Roth
Van Halen’s tour with David Lee Roth ended last July with one final triumphant version of “Jump” ó but if Eddie Van Halen gets his way, that’s not going to be the end of the reunion. “We are a band ó it wasn’t just a one-off tour we did,” says the guitarist, who plans to meet with Roth this summer to play him demos of new songs. “We had a lot of fun on the tour ó Dave was a blast. And next time we go out, we’re going to have some new stuff, too. I’m looking forward to getting on it.” The 75-date tour, which began in September 2007, grossed more than $93 million, making it the most lucrative of the band’s career.
June will be a busy month for the Van Halens: Eddie will marry Janie Liszewski, his girlfriend and publicist; and 17-year-old bassist Wolfgang Van Halen (“a permanent part of Van Halen,” according to his dad) will graduate with his high school class after taking a year off for the tour. “Wolfie had it the toughest,” says Eddie. “He had three or four hours of tutoring every day and then the gig.” And after that, Eddie hopes to start recording what could be the band’s first new studio album since 1998’s Van Halen III (with short-tenured lead singer Gary Cherone) and its first with Roth in 25 years.
“I’ve got tons of music written, such a variety of stuff,” says Eddie, who thinks some of it may surprise fans. “The essence of me is obviously there, and those drums, they’re always recognizable. But people expect a certain thing from Van Halen, and this isn’t exactly bang-your-head-against-the-wall stuff.”
Roth is keeping busy too ó he lives part time in New York, where he works as an EMT, an unlikely passion he began pursuing in 2004. His spokeswoman said he couldn’t be reached for comment on his future with the band.
At the same time, Eddie is continuing his own side career as an entrepreneur: He just launched a Website, EVHgear.com, where fans can buy replicas of nearly everything he plays and wears, from his signature Wolfgang guitar, which he used on the band’s last tour (upgraded over two and a half years to what he calls “NASA quality”), to Converse-style sneakers with his red-white-and-black-striped design, which he’s been wearing since the Eighties. “I’m not shoving it down anyone’s throat or trying to be a clothing designer,” he says. “I just think my tennis shoes are cool, and I love my equipment ó everything I put out is exactly identical to what I use.”

Hagar Inks With New Roadrunner Imprint
Sammy Hagar is the first signing to new Roadrunner imprint Loud & Proud, which will focus on established artists. His label debut, “Cosmic Universal Fashion,” will arrive Nov. 18.
The album’s title track was written online by Hagar with an Iraqi rock fan named Steven Lost. The cut and its accompanying video, an homage to Van Halen’s text-heavy 1992 clip for “Right Now,” can be sampled on Hagar’s Web site.
“‘Cosmic Universal Fashion’ is not about supporting left or right, blue or red, but rather an attempt to appeal to people on a personal level to get involved,” says Hagar.
The album also includes the song “Loud,” featuring the Cult’s Billy Duffy and Matt Sorum along with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right To Party.”
Hagar was most recently signed to Rhino, which issued his 2006 album “Livin’ It Up.” The set has sold 52,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Here is the track list for “Cosmic Universal Fashion”:
“Cosmic Universal Fashion”
“Psycho Vertigo”
“Peephole”
“LOUD”
“Fight for Your Right To Party”
“Switch on the Light”
“When the Sun Don’t Shine”
“24365”
“I’m on a Roll”
“Dreams/Cabo”

Van Halen tour scrapped: report
The remaining dates of Van Halen’s North American concert tour have been cancelled, TMZ.com reports.
The tour began in September with popular singer David Lee Roth performing with the band for the first time in 22 years, and Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, playing bass.
Although performances were lined up through April 19, TMZ.com cited unnamed sources as saying the band’s hotel reservations are being canceled now that the rest of the tour has been scrapped.
The band’s last three shows were cancelled as Eddie Van Halen is said to be having “issues,” the report said.
The rock icon, who spent time in rehab last year, has been in media headlines the last few weeks because his ex-wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, is making the rounds to promote her new tell-all memoir.
The book discusses her and Van Halen’s mutual infidelity and drug use during their more than 20 years of marriage.
Representatives for the band could not be reached for comment, TMZ.com said.

Van Halen Beefs Up 2008 Itinerary
Van Halen has added 23 new U.S. dates to its reunion tour with original lead singer David Lee Roth, extending the trek into April.
Beyond the five shows added in mid-November, the Live Nation-produced trek featuring Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen’s teenage son Wolfgang on bass will visit new markets such as New Orleans and Providence R.I., while making repeat visits to New York, Chicago and East Rutherford, N.J.
The current tour is Roth’s first with the Van Halen brothers in more than 20 years and has grossed $25.5 million from 18 shows between Sept. 27 and Nov. 10, according to Billboard Boxscore.
The full slate of 2008 shows is:
Jan. 22: Oklahoma City (Ford Center)
Jan. 24: San Antonio (AT&T Center)
Jan. 26: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
Jan. 28: Houston (Toyota Center)
Feb. 1: Denver (Pepsi Center)
Feb. 4: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Event Center)
Feb. 8: New Orleans (New Orleans Arena)
Feb. 12: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (BankAtlantic Center)
Feb. 14: Orlando, Fla. (Amway Arena)
Feb. 16: Jacksonville, Fla. (Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena)
Feb. 18: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
Feb. 22: Charlottesville, Va. (John Paul Jones Arena)
Mar. 5: Cincinnati (US Bank Arena)
Mar. 7: Raleigh, N.C. (RBC Center)
Mar. 9: Baltimore (1st Mariner Arena)
Mar. 11: Manchester, N.H. (Verizon Wireless Arena)
Mar. 13: East Rutherford, N.J. (Izod Center)
Mar. 17: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Mar. 19: Hershey, Pa. (Giant Center)
Mar. 21: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
Mar. 24: Providence, R.I. (Dunkin Donuts Center)
Mar. 26: Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun Arena)
Mar. 28: Atlantic City, N.J. (Boardwalk Hall)
Mar. 30: St. Louis (Scottrade Center)
Apr. 1: Columbus, Ohio (Value City Arena)
Apr. 3: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
Apr. 5: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Van Andel Arena)
Apr. 7: Milwaukee (Bradley Center)

At 60, Hagar Still Ready To Rock
Although he was laid up recovering on the day after his 60th anniversary bash on Oct. 13 at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico, Sammy Hagar’s advanced age has not slowed the Red Rocker in the slightest. In fact, he says, it’s making him work that much harder.
“There’s so much I want to do,” Hagar tells Billboard.com, “and there’s nothing I feel holding me back — nothing with my age or my physical health or my strength or my enthusiasm, my talent. I’m having more fun that I’ve ever had, I gotta tell ya.”
Hagar, who’s currently on the road with former Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony as his special guest, has a number of projects in the works. First among them is a new album, the follow-up to last year’s “Livin’ It Up.” Hagar says he’s about “halfway through” with it and plans to finish recording in December and January for an expected second quarter of 2008 release.
“It’s quirky music,” Hagar says. “It’s a little bit more worldbeat and kinda harder rock, more like going back to (1981’s) ‘Standing Hampton’ or (1984’s) ‘VOA’ or something. Those records were very ’80s, with a little bit of influence of Peter Gabriel and people like that. Now I think it’s more Peter Gabriel-influenced with a hard rock edge on it.”
Hagar will support the album with a summer festival tour, for which he plans an “anthology” tour that will feature the original Montrose lineup, his original Sammy Hagar Band, his current group, the Wabos, and a “superstar guitarist” that will join him and Anthony to play Van Halen material.
“I have some people in mind,” Hagar reports, “but I haven’t made the call yet.” Hagar adds there will also be “a big, all-star jam at the end” of the show.
Hagar, who still retains a 20 percent ownership in his Cabo Wabo tequila brand, has also launched Cabo Wabo Radio, an Internet station that will offer varying levels of free and subscription services — with an evening program broadcast live from Cabo Wabo.
One thing Hagar won’t be doing, however, is Chickenfoot, the “supergroup” he talked about forming with Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The trio has jammed before, including at Hagar’s birthday bashes, but for now, he says, the project isn’t practical.
“I just can’t do it,” Hagar says. “There’s no room in my life for another band, so that’s not gonna happen.”

Van Halen Tour Kicking Off In Late September
The first leg of Van Halen’s long-awaited reunion tour with frontman David Lee Roth will kick off Sept. 27 in Charlotte, N.C., and run through Dec. 11 in Calgary, Alberta. Tickets for the trek, announced today at a Los Angeles media gathering, go on sale beginning Saturday (Aug. 18) via LiveNation.com.
A proposed summer amphitheater tour by the group, first tipped here in late January, never got off the ground, with guitarist Eddie Van Halen entering a rehabilitation facility for undisclosed reasons in March.
Roth has not toured with the act in more than two decades; the bass spot formerly occupied by Michael Anthony will be filled by Eddie Van Halen’s teenage son, Wolfgang.
“It’s a new band,” Roth said. “I’ve done more rehearsal in the last four months than I’ve done in the past 20 summers. The whole sound is better than it has ever been.”
Roth added, “It was Wolf who picked the song list, and we’ve got close to 25 of your greatest hits — all the favorites that you’ve been hearing tearing out of the back of a pickup truck at the Burger King drive-through for how many summertimes. It’s all very well intact — the same sh*tty attitude but with a whole new look.”
Various allusions were made to a potential new Van Halen studio album, which would be the band’s first with Roth since the seminal “1984.”
“There’s a high standard here,” Roth said. “We could waddle out there and halfway do it. A band like this could totally come in after an absence of this amount of time and get away with a lot, if we only do one tour. That’s not our ambition. This is not like the Police. The idea is that it will continue on and on, and you have to get a good start.”
“None of us want to give you less than our best, and we are at our best,” Eddie Van Halen added.
For more on today’s Van Halen announcement, visit the Billboard blog at JadedInsider.com.
Here are Van Halen’s tour dates:
Sept. 27: Charlotte, N.C. (Bobcats Arena)
Sept. 29: Greensboro, N.C. (Coliseum)
Oct. 1: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Oct. 7: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Oct. 10: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
Oct. 14: Indianapolis (Conseco Fieldhouse)
Oct. 16: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
Oct. 18: Chicago (United Center)
Oct. 22: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Oct. 24: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Oct. 26: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
Oct. 28: St. Louis (Scottrade Center)
Oct. 30: Boston (TD Banknorth Garden)
Nov. 3: East Rutherford, N.J. (Continental Airlines Arena)
Nov. 13: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Nov. 20: Los Angeles (Staples Center)
Nov. 23: Glendale, Ariz. (Jobing.com Arena)
Nov. 25: San Diego (Cox Arena)
Nov. 27: Sacramento, Calif. (Arco Arena)
Nov. 29: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
Dec. 1: Portland, Ore. (Rose Garden)
Dec. 3: Seattle (Key Arena)
Dec. 5: Vancouver (GM Place)
Dec. 9: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Palace)
Dec. 11: Calgary, Alberta (Pengrowth Saddledome)

Reunited Van Halen Eyeing Fall Arena Run
A proposed summer amphitheater tour by a reunited Van Halen that was derailed when guitarist Eddie Van Halen checked into rehab now looks like it may be resurrected as a fall arena run. Several arena holds are in place in major markets for potential Van Halen dates, Billboard.com has learned.
The tour, negotiations for which were first tipped here on Jan. 24, would feature David Lee Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen’s teenage son Wolfgang on bass.
Wheels had been in motion for a 40-date, Live Nation-produced amphitheater tour, with original frontman Roth back in the fold for the first time in more than 20 years. Van Halen last toured in 2004 with vocalist Sammy Hagar, grossing nearly $40 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.
But the reunion never got off the ground, and Eddie Van Halen entered a rehabilitation facility for undisclosed reasons in March. In the months since, the artist has been seen publicly looking healthy and fit.
The buzz surrounding the prospect of a Van Halen tour with Roth seems to point toward a successful trek. “I see it absolutely as an inevitability,” Roth told Billboard.com more than a year ago regarding a tour with his ex-bandmates. “To me, it’s not rocket surgery. It’s very simple to put together. And as far as hurt feelings and water under the dam, like what’s-her-name says to what’s-her-name at the end of the movie ‘Chicago’ — ‘So what? It’s showbiz!'”

Hagar to bring next Cabo Wabo trek indoors
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – Sammy Hagar will bring his Cabo San Lucas-themed summer tour indoors to theaters this winter, Billboard.com has learned.
“We’re bringing the Cobo spirit to Christmas,” Hagar’s booking agent, Jonny Podell with the Podell Talent Agency told Billboard.com. “The additional thrills normally associated with Hagar’s Cabo Wabo tour will include bikini girls in the lobby, Waborita bars, mariachi bands and many more surprises.”
An official itinerary is still in the works, but Podell said the outing, billed as “Cabo Wabo Presents the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar and the Wabos,” will visit venues of approximately 3,000-seat capacity in such cities as Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.
The tour is scheduled to begin in October and will run through May 5, 2008, when Hagar will perform at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Lake Tahoe, Nev. Special guests on the tour will include Mad Anthony’s Express, Los Tres Gusanos and the Other Half, according to Podell.
A summer tour is expected to follow the theater dates. “He’s probably going to be on tour all year,” Podell said.
Hagar’s summer amphitheater trek in 2006 grossed $3.4 million from 26 concerts, according to Billboard Boxscore. Nearly 184,000 fans attended the shows.
Earlier this year, the Red Rocker treated 750 loyal fans to the second annual Are We Having Any Fun Yet? cruise. “We throw this giant party, everybody gets drunk off their ass and then they leave,” Hagar told Billboard before the March cruise. “I love being able to meet the fans on a more personal level.”
In related news, Hagar recently sold an 80 percent stake in his Cabo Wabo Tequila brand to an Italian beverage company for a reported $80 million.

Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen enters rehab
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen said on Thursday he would enter rehab “to work on myself,” a move that appears to rule out a reunion by his troubled band when it is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next week.
The announcement came a month after he and former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, his longtime antagonist, said they would tour North America in the summer. Within weeks, speculation arose the plans had run aground.
The Dutch-born Van Halen, 52, who has long battled alcoholism and survived a bout with tongue cancer, said in an open letter to fans he wanted to do right by them.
“I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best. That’s why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110 percent that I feel I owe you and want to give you.”
He added: “Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not. As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better.”
The letter was released by his spokeswoman and girlfriend, Janie Liszewski, who did not respond to requests for further information.
The band, famed for such ’80s hits as “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher,” is scheduled to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York on Monday. The appearance had aroused speculation, given the hostility between Van Halen and Roth, who quit in the mid-’80s, and also between Van Halen and Roth’s successor, Sammy Hagar, who was ousted a decade later.
The band, which has not released an album in nine years, parted ways recently with bass player Michael Anthony, and Van Halen installed his 15-year-old son, Wolfgang. The lineup is rounded out by Van Halen’s brother, drummer Alex Van Halen.
In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Eddie Van Halen said he had entered rehab twice. He recalled his only drunken-driving arrest came after he had left an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, appalled by everyone’s sob story, and stopped at a bar for a few shots.
“I always got hammered to be able to cope,” he told the magazine. “I have zero social skills and I don’t know how to act, so I get drunk. And then I make a real ass out of myself.”