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David Lee Roth is a court jester who became one of the most recognizable frontmen in rock and roll with Van Halen. He’s the kind of performer that barely exists today — a shameless, often amusing guy with a toothy smile and a sex drive run amok. Roth is all personality as a singer, his every utterance laden with wit and a wink.
But the jester is now 70. The Van Halen drama is behind him. (For those not aware: Roth acrimoniously left the band at their height in 1985 before coming back in 2007 through Eddie’s death in 2020.) He announced his retirement as a performer in 2022, and yet here we are in 2025 with Roth touring behind a show featuring nothing but Van Halen’s best-known tunes — from “Panama,” and “Runnin’ with the Devil” to “Unchained” and “Jump.” Yes, nary a Roth solo cut, which is both uncommonly disciplined and conceptually cohesive.
Roth addressed his return to the stage at the M3 Festival in May: “We’ve reached the end of my first retirement,” he told the crowd, his signature grin enveloping his face. “How many retirements did Rocky have, nine?”
Backed by an ace band of relative youngsters, Roth is playing casinos, resorts and fairgrounds. He’s finally doing what everyone suggested he do decades ago, delivering a Vegas-style revue complete with cheesy asides, a quartet of backing singers and a leather-clad Roth prancing around the stage sans his prime-era athleticism. That’s not to say Roth is in bad shape. In fact, he’s a lean, newly tattooed schtick machine, his vocals sounding better than they have in years.
David Lee Roth plays the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. More info: casino.hardrock.com.
This article appears in Jul 23 – Aug 5, 2025.