
Van Halen in 1984 (fltr Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen)
Introduction
In 1984 Van Halen released their album 1984. Synthesizers and big hits? Sure! Unfortunately, the end of the classic line-up was just around the corner.
Content
This article holds four corresponding sub articles and a video. These can be accessed by clicking the links below. Whenever applicable, these links will be referred to within this article.
- Eddie Van Halen & Michael Jackson: Beat It, the solo
- Eddie Van Halen and the contours of 1984
- Van Halen and the US Festival 1983
- Eddie Van Halen and his home studio: 5150
- Video: 1984 and the end of the classic Van Halen line-up

Van Halen – Fair Warning & Diver Down
Fair Warning / Diver Down
After I watched Van Halen on the Dutch TV show Toppop in 1978, when the band released their awesome debut album (see the article Van Halen – The best debut album of all time?), I followed the band and their music. Upon the release of their third album two years later I was once again deeply impressed (see the article Van Halen’s third album rocks: Women And Children First). The 1981 album Fair Warning, which is considered a difficult album, passed me by. It was an album guitarist Eddie Van Halen really wanted to make and was made up of all original material. By and large, the album lacked the swing and swagger that made Van Halen distinctly unique, but is regarded as a fan favorite.
The following album, Diver Down (1982), did have the swing and swagger, but it contained no less than 5 covers. Eddie Van Halen later said: “I would rather bomb with my own music than be the world’s biggest cover band.” After the album’s release, Eddie Van Halen was discontented with the concessions he had made to David Lee Roth (with whom the relationship already was volatile, to say the least) and producer Ted Templeman.
Hide Your Sheep Tour
To promote their Diver Down album Van Halen went on another tour, in the US and Canada, using the rather remarkable moniker Hide Your Sheep Tour. The tour lasted from mid-July to mid-December and was picked up again from mid-January to mid-February 1983 in South America, where the band had never played before. Relations within the band weren’t helped by the long tour. The never-ending partying and the huge amounts of drugs and alcohol gave way to even more irritation and arguments.

Van Halen – US Festival 1983 – Arrival by helicopter
US Festival 1983
On May 29, 1983, the band performed at the US Festival in San Bernardino, California. The band earned the staggering amount of $1.5 million to close off the second day of the four day festival. See the sub article Van Halen and the US Festival 1983 for more on that specific show.
Working outside of the band?
The band really had just one golden rule: no one is allowed to start activities outside of the band without letting the other band members know in advance and getting their approval. The rule had come into play in 1977 when Gene Simmons had asked the Van Halen brothers to play along on a number of Kiss demos. Everyone in and outside of the band was convinced that Simmons wanted to ‘steal’ Eddie Van Halen in particular, to join Kiss. The rule applied to everyone, which included both frontmen Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth.

Eddie Van Halen & Michael Jackson 07/13/1984
Michael Jackson
In 1982 Eddie Van Halen secretly recorded a solo for Michael Jackson’s Beat It. No one would find out, would they? Of course they would. In fact, it would turn into one the best known and most recognizable guitar solos of all time. The band wasn’t happy, and that’s putting it very mildly. Also see the sub article Eddie Van Halen & Michael Jackson: Beat It, the solo.
Dweezil Zappa
Also in 1982, Eddie Van Halen produced the debut single of Dweezil Zappa, who was just 12 years old at the time, My Mother Is A Space Cadet. The production was attributed to “The Vards”, a mock-up of the way Van Halen’s mother pronounced his full first name Edward. Dweezil was the son of Frank Zappa, who Eddie Van Halen occasionally jammed with (along with Steve Vai a.o.).
Brian May
On April 21 and 22, 1983, Eddie Van Halen played along with Brian May and some friends. The result was recorded and released on October 31, 1983, as an EP called Star Fleet Project.
Valerie Bertinelli
In 1983 Eddie Van Halen composed 3 synthesizer songs for The Seduction Of Gina, a movie in which his wife Valerie Bertinelli played a leading role. He wrote the music following Bertinelli’s description of some of the movie scenes. The director was so thrilled with the music, he asked if Van Halen could provide the entire movie with his music. Van Halen declined, as he had other priorities.
Eddie Van Halen had some other side projects as well, but the overall image the projects conjure up, is that he didn’t exactly live up to the agreement that had been reached. It caused friction and planted a seed in the mind of David Lee Roth: “If he can do it, why can’t I?”

5150 Studios
5150 Studios
In 1983 Eddie Van Halen finally acquired what he had been dreaming of for a long time. His very own home studio, 5150 Studios. A safe private environment where Eddie Van Halen could work on his music all by himself and was able to compose and experiment without outside interference. 1984 was the first album to come out of this studio. See the sub article Eddie Van Halen and his home studio: 5150 for more on (the construction of) the studio.

Eddie Van Halen – Frankenstrat
The end of the Frankenstrat
From the early start of his career up to 1983 Eddie Van Halen played his self-built Frankenstrat (a conjunction of Frankenstein and Stratocaster). In the early days he didn’t have the money to buy a guitar so he built one himself. Mid 1983 and onward Eddie Van Halen started playing Kramer guitars and endorsed the brand. Kramer was even licensed to create their own version of the Frankenstrat. Many years later Eddie developed his own line under the name EVH.
Changes
In short, there was a lot going on in and outside of the band. Eddie Van Halen was unhappy, David Lee Roth opposed the use of keyboards and synthesizers in particular, every band member wrestled with cocaine and liquor addictions. Relations were bad, very bad indeed, but the worst was yet to come. Arguments were primarily fought out between David Lee Roth on one side and the Van Halen brothers on the other.

Van Halen – Jump – Gold
Jump
Midway 1983 Eddie Van Halen was interviewed for the British music magazine Music U.K., where he details the new album and talks about a new song called Go Ahead And Jump (also see the sub article Eddie Van Halen and the contours of 1984). As Eddie Van Halen had access to his very own studio, he was finally able to record the song that would end up being called Jump. Wíth synthesizers, as he had always wanted it. Each time he had presented the song before, it was vetoed by Roth and producer Templeman. But now he could record it professionally. With brother Alex who played his drum part on a digital Simmons, a serious demo was made. The song sounded electronic and heavy at the same time and was a major improvement of the original demo stemming from 1982. Roth went to work and wrote the lyrics on the backseat of his 1951 Mercury low-rider.
I was watching television one night, and it was the five o’clock news, and a fellow was standing on top of the Arco Towers in Los Angeles, and he was about to check out early. He was going to perform the 33-story drop, and he was about to do it when I heard a large group of people shouting, ‘Don’t jump, don’t jump’ from the parking lot below. I recorded it, and it eventually appeared on the record, albeit in a much more positive light. It’s simple to interpret it as a ‘go for it’ mentality and a positive type of affair from how you hear it on the record.
© July 1984, David Lee Roth interview, Rock Video Magazine
All’s well that ends well. Eddie Van Halen was proven right, Roth wrote one his best lyrics and the song would turn into the first (and only) number 1 single for Van Halen. A good way to start the album. Maybe because of the freedom Eddie Van Halen felt, the album’s recording took a long time, especially for Van Halen. Where the preceding five albums took two weeks maximum to record, this album took months.
N.B.:
In 1980 keyboards were first used on a Van Halen album, the opening song to the Women And Children First album uses an electronically distorted Wurlitzer piano.
Hostage
The 1984 album had a scheduled release date of December 31, 1983, but that was logistically impossible, especially after Eddie Van Halen and Donn Landee took the master tapes hostage. Eddie Van Halen:
Donn and I would be in there mixing and the phone would ring. It would be Ted at the front gate to my house, wanting to come in. … So Donn would grab the master tapes, put them in his car, go out the back gate, and wait as Ted was coming through the front gate because Ted wanted the tapes. He’d ask where Donn and the tapes were, and I’d say that I had no idea. This went on for about two weeks.
© February 2014 Guitar World
Relations worsened. Eddie Van Halen had taken full control and direction of the entire enterprise. It came at a cost as well; band members, Templeman and the record company were all convinced Eddie Van Halen had lost his mind.

Van Halen – 1984
1984
On January 9, 1984, the sixth Van Halen album was released, the third album without any cover material. The album is widely known as 1984, but the cover contains the number in Roman numerals, MCMLXXXIV. It would turn out to be the last album of the classic Van Halen line-up. They ended with an artistic and commercial highlight. Debut album Van Halen and 1984 are the band’s bestselling albums. Both were certified the diamond status in the US, equalling at least 10 million copies sold.
Even though 1984 is the album on which Eddie Van Halen truly incorporated the synthesizer into the band’s sound, it still contains hard and heavy rock, much to the delight of the original fan base and David Lee Roth. The production duties were primarily executed by Eddie Van Halen, even though the album states Ted Templeman in the role of producer. The overall sound is somewhat mid-range, a problem that multiple Van Halen album suffer from.
Once again, as was the case with all of the preceding Van Halen albums, 1984 is relatively short, especially for that time when the compact disc format was on the rise and could easily store 60 minutes’ worth of music. 33 minutes and a number of seconds is really little. Quite remarkable, as there was more than enough extra material available.
1984 song to song
The album opens with an instrumental piece lasting just over 1 minute, 1984, which sounds a bit dated nowadays and serves as the intro to the first real song on the album: Jump, a great catchy song, on which Van Halen really sounds as something more than just the sum of its individual parts. The band give it their all, resulting in a natural symbiosis of typical 1980s electronics and rock.
The third song Panama is one of the album’s highlights and sounds like ‘vintage’ Van Halen. A great rocking song. The engine sound in the song stems from Eddie Van Halen’s 1972 Lamborghini Miura S (a present from wife Valerie Bertinelli).
They thought we were nuts to pull up my Lamborghini to the studio and mic it. We drove it around the city, and I revved the engine up to 80,000 rpm just to get the right sound.
Eddie Van Halen
Top Jimmy is about a personal friend of David Lee Roth, James Koneck, who worked at a taco stand in the daytime and at night was the lead singer of Top Jimmy And The Rhythm Pigs. Originally the song was an instrumental called Ripley, a tribute to Steve Ripley, who had developed a unique stereo guitar for Eddie Van Halen.

Van Halen – 1984 Ad
The last song on the first side of the vinyl record is Drop Dead Legs, according to Eddie Van Halen musically influenced by AC/DC.
That was inspired by AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black.’ I was grooving on that beat, although I think that ‘Drop Dead Legs’ is slower. Whatever I listen to somehow is filtered through me and comes out differently. ‘Drop Dead Legs’ is almost a jazz version of ‘Back in Black.’ The descending progression is similar, but I put a lot more notes in there.
Eddie Van Halen
The song’s lyrics are inspired by Marilyn Monroe. “Dig that steam” refers to a scene from Some Like It Hot, where Monroe carries a violin case while walking besides a steam engine letting off steam.
Side two opens with Hot For Teacher, a song that has all the ingredients to make a Van Halen song a Van Halen song. Drums, guitar, lyrics, it gels. The drum intro alone is right-out genius and is considered a standard for drummers. The band was equally impressed, “Holy shit!” was the general reaction. And the song hasn’t even started yet. Eddie Van Halen delivers one of his best riffs ever, followed by a relatively mellow blues boogie mid-section. Vocally, the band reenact their high school times, behaving like teenagers in a classroom, including funny adlibs like “Hey, I heard you missed us, we’re back! / I brought my pencil” and an unnoticed “What the fuck, man!”.
Roth couldn’t get the lyrics to I’ll Wait to work and Michael McDonald was asked to step in and help. The lyrics (because of McDonald’s involvement?) resembled a regular love song, which Van Halen had never done before.
Eddie Van Halen wrote Girl Gone Bad in the closet of a hotel room “humming and whistling” to a micro-cassette recorder. His wife Valerie Bertinelli was asleep and he didn’t want to bother her. Great song.
The closing House Of Pain stemmed from 1975 and was part of the 1976 Gene Simmons Van Halen demos. The lyrics were updated, the song became a tribute to BDSM.

Van Halen – 1984 – Gold, Platinum & Diamond Award
Success
On March 13, 1984, 2 months after its release, 1984 was certified both gold and platinum, for selling 500,000 and 1,000,000 copies in the US, respectively. On January 23, 1985, the certification had already risen to 5 times platinum. On February 9, 1990, the album was awarded the diamond certification (more than 10 million copies sold). The rest of the world didn’t stay behind.
It’s quite remarkable that 1984 didn’t reach the number 1 position in the charts, but remained stuck at number 2. Michael Jackson’s Thriller stopped 1984 from reaching that. It was another point of contention within the band, as it was Eddie Van Halen who played on Beat It…

Van Halen – 1984 – Inner sleeve
Cover
Margo Nahas was asked to design a cover of four chrome ladies dancing. She refused, as the assignment proved too difficult. Following the refusal, Warner Bros. requested other work that would be presented to the band. They chose a painting of a cherub, a mythical creature that’s a combination of multiple other life forms.
Nahas had made the artwork in 1982. It wasn’t before long that rumors appeared that it was David Lee Roth who had modeled for the picture, but in fact it was young Carter Helm, the son of friends, who was the model. Photographs of the boy holding chocolate cigarettes were used as guidelines for the final result. In some countries the cover was banned, including the UK and Korea, obscuring the cigarettes. Nahas was amused: “The way I envisioned it in the first place was the little rebel cherub came down to earth and decided to try a smoke. Knowing it was wrong, he glanced up to heaven to see if God was watching.”
The inner sleeve shows a picture of a line of bullets or robots, it’s not clear what it is exactly, and the band on the other side. The design of the numerals “1984” on the album’s back cover stem from Roth, who wanted to pay tribute to comics made by Mœbius (the pseudonym for Jean Giraud).

Van Halen – 1984 – Inner sleeve
Review
Even though Van Halen and Women And Children First are my favorite Van Halen albums, 1984 is an easy third. Even though the album is known for being the first synthesizer Van Halen album, the album still rocks gloriously with songs like Panama, Drop Dead Legs, Girl Gone Bad and the phenomenal Hot For Teacher.
If the combination of the virtuoso Van Halen brothers, the silent force (especially considering the background vocals) Michael Anthony and the bluff, energy and humor of David Lee Roth works, it really works extremely well. 1984 (unfortunately) is the last time that was the case.
The album does contain one giant misstep. I think I’ll Wait is a real stinker, something that could have been made by Boston, Kansas or Journey. A type of music I wouldn’t play even if it was the last music on earth. The follow-up to 1984 would explore that type of music even further.
Final conclusion

Van Halen – 1984 – Singles
Singles
The album produced 4 singles.
- Jump
(released in December 1983) - I’ll Wait
(released in April 1984) - Panama
(released in June 1984) - Hot For Teacher
(released in October 1984)
Videos
Videoclips played an ever more important role in promoting singles and albums. For Diver Down the band had made a video for the single (Oh) Pretty Woman, only to get it banned from MTV. Then again, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? In the band, there was no one who really understood the vital importance of videos more than than David Lee Roth.
N.B.:
No video was shot for the I’ll Wait single.

Van Halen – Jump – Video
Jump
After all the time and attention the band had spent on (Oh) Pretty Woman, the clip for the first single was to be simpler, a basic performance video. But David Lee Roth wanted more. Director Lombard: “Dave wanted the performance video intercut with him doing crazy shit, like driving his chopped Merc hot rod and hanging out with midgets and girls in maids’ outfits. So we shot hours of footage.” Lombard edited a video without all the extras Roth had filmed, and presented it to Eddie and Alex Van Halen. Two days later Lombard was fired by band manager Noel Monk: “You don’t do that – you don’t go behind Dave’s back. Here’s your check, never want to see you again.”.
The video was premiered midnight on January 1, 1984, on MTV and would later go on to win a MTV Award in the category Best Stage Performance.
Panama
When the band was two months into their tour the Panama video was filmed on March, 19, 20 & 21, 1984, in Philadelphia. This time Roth made sure that (a considerable part of) the extra Jump material found its way into the clip. The video premiered Michael Anthony’s bass shaped as a Jack Daniels whiskey bottle.

Van Halen – Hot For Teacher – Video
Hot For Teacher
The funniest/greatest video Van Halen ever made was Hot For Teacher. In the video the band is co-played by younger versions of themselves. They party, bully, go crazy with sexual lust and have fun. In the meantime the “hot teacher” theme is portrayed explicitly. Teachers parade around the classroom like strippers. The video cost $200,000 and was in constant rotation on MTV.
But there was criticism as well: the image of scantily clad women wasn’t greeted with enthusiasm by conservative right-wing America. The bullying of the character Waldo was judged as well.
The song Darling Nikki on the Prince & The Revolution album Purple Rain led to the foundation of the Parents Music Resource Center (in short PMRC). However, it wasn’t just music (including the ‘Filthy Fifteen’ list) that was targeted. Videos were also condemned. Citing Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher video, founder Tipper Gore wrote in a newspaper article “When my eight-year-old asked me, ‘Why is the teacher taking off her clothes in school,’ I started paying attention to the videos my children watch.”
In September 1985, a Congress hearing was dedicated to music lyrics. The video for Hot For Teacher was shown and stopped around Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo, alluding to audible laughter and applause.

Van Halen – 1984 – Back cover
Songs
All songs written by Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, except I’ll Wait, written by the aforementioned with Michael McDonald.
- 1984 (instrumental)
- Jump
- Panama
- Top Jimmy
- Drop Dead Legs
- Hot For Teacher
- I’ll Wait
- Girl Gone Bad
- House Of Pain
Musicians
- David Lee Roth – vocals
- Eddie Van Halen – guitar, keyboards, background vocals
- Michael Anthony – bass, synth bass on I’ll Wait, background vocals
- Alex Van Halen – drums

Van Halen – 1984 Tour
1984 Tour
The 1984 Tour for the album started on January 18 and ended on July 16, 1984. The band played 100 shows in the US and Canada. The stage got its own name, Metropolis, and consisted of 175 tons of equipment, which had to be transported and built using eight trucks, five buses and nearly 100 people. The stage had five cranes that could readjust the lighting rigs, which consisted of more than 2,000 lights. At the time, it was the largest production ever used by a rock band. The average setlist on the tour was:
Unchained / Hot For Teacher / Alex Van Halen drum solo / On Fire / Runnin’ With The Devil / Little Guitars / Cathedral / House Of Pain / Michael Anthony bass solo / Jamie’s Cryin’ / I’ll Wait / Everybody Wants Some!! / Girl Gone Bad/ 1984 / Jump / Eddie Van Halen guitar solo (including Eruption, Spanish Fly, Little Guitars, Women In Love…, Mean Street) / (Oh) Pretty Woman / Panama / You Really Got Me // Growth / Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
To promote the tour a contest was held using the moniker Lost Weekend with Van Halen. David Lee Roth advertised the contest on MTV with “You won’t know where you are, you won’t know what’s going to happen, and when you come back, you’re not gonna have any memory of it.” More than 1 million postcards were sent in. The winner and a friend were flown in to Detroit. The band made it an unforgettable experience.
After the US tour 5 more shows were played in Europe in late August, early September as part of the Monsters of Rock festival line-up, where the band shared the bill with artists like AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore and Mötley Crue.

Van Halen – After the tour
The end of the classic line-up
In the summer of 1984 Eddie Van Halen told Rolling Stone magazine “I’m a musician, Dave’s a rock star”. It summarized the reason behind the band’s implosion (in its then current form) pretty accurately. Even at the time of the Women And Children First album the contours were clear: Roth was the showman and Eddie Van Halen the somewhat introverted musician. However, they both realized that their chemistry, which was undeniable, could lead to extraordinary results. It would prove to be insufficient.
On January 28, 1985, David Lee Roth followed Eddie Van Halen’s example of his extracurricular activities, and released an EP titled Crazy From The Heat, featuring 4 covers, among which California Girls and the Just A gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody medley. Both those songs were released as a single as well and provided with (to this day still classic) videos. It was a huge success. The EP sold over 1 million copies.
On top of that, Roth was working on a screen play, also titled Crazy From The Heat, which led to a $10 million deal with CBS. The movie was going to happen. What happened next isn’t entirely certain, as both Roth and Eddie Van Halen were not very generous with the absolute truth. Both portrayed their own narratives. It seems that the band had agreed on taking a break for one year. Time enough for Roth to make his movie.
In the meantime the press became more and more restless and started wondering whether Van Halen was about to split up. To be fair, a January 1985 David Lee Roth interview with Billboard did make the conjecture rather easy: “Since my very first days in with the band 11 years ago, I have always had the feeling that one day I would wake up in a cold hotel, all the rooms would be empty and I would be stuck by a phone with a busy signal. From the first day. Nothing has changed.”. However, sometime later he stated “We’ll be going back in the studio and start arguing again and we all look forward to that. … We have a lot of respect for each other and get along quite well, actually.”
Mid-June 1985 the band (Eddie Van Halen?) apparently changed their mind about the break and wanted to record new music. Again, this is not 100% certain. What is certain though is that in July 1985 Rolling Stone magazine reported that the band was “on permanent hold”, and one month later Eddie Van Halen stated “I’m looking for a new lead singer … it’s weird that it’s over. Twelve years of my life putting up with his bullshit.”

Van Halen – 5150
Van Halen, part II
It wasn’t before long that Sammy Hagar was introduced as the new singer for Van Halen. On March 24, 1986, 5150 was released, an album that gave even more room to the synthesizer. It was very successful and reached the number 1 position of the album charts, the first time any Van Halen album reached that position. With Why Can’t This Be Love the band had a huge hit on their hands as well. Critics were less impressed and thought the band sounded a bit ordinary, but above all humorless. The Sammy Hagar period would yield another 4 albums, among which a live album. Despite declining record sales, the band remained a huge entity, especially in the US.

David Lee Roth – Crazy From The Heat & Eat ‘Em And Smile
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth quickly assembled a band, which included master guitarist Steve Vai and released Eat ‘Em And Smile on July 7, 1986.
To be perfectly honest, this album is far superior to the first Sammy Hagar Van Halen album. Just the opening song alone, Yankee Rose, a tribute to the Statue of Liberty in New York, has got everything a David Lee Roth song should have. And in Steve Vai Roth managed to find another guitar hero to provide the music with something extra. In 1986 Roth came out on top, even though he sold less than his old bandmates.
At a press conference on October 31, 1986, in Toronto Roth couldn’t/wouldn’t hide his annoyance about the dirt coming from the Van Halen camp (meaning Eddie).
We’re having a career difference here. We’re having a musical difference. We cried, we hugged and we split and two weeks later I’m reading in Rolling Stone what an asshole I am and how poor little Eddie was forced to spend the last 12 years of his life living a lie. It’s like National Enquirer or something.
I don’t think it’s necessary to make a comparison, I don’t think you have to make a choice, but Van Halen demands it. Van Halen is demanding, for some bizarre, retarded reason, for the audience to make a choice. Well, I’ll rise to the challenge, if we have to have a comparison, then fine. I eat you for breakfast, pal. I eat you and smile.
David Lee Roth, 10/31/1986
After Roth’s movie was planned, the script had been written, actors were cast and even the wardrobe had been picked, CBS pulled the plug, because of (lack of) cash flow and new management. Roth sued CBS for breach of contract. The suit was settled.
After the release of his follow-up albums Skyscraper (1988) and A Little Ain’t Enough (1991), Roth’s solo career faded quickly, which would only be revived around 2002.

Van Halen & Roth 09/04/1996
Van Halen and Roth reunion 1996
In 1996 Van Halen, with Sammy Hagar, was in the middle of making music for the Jan De Bont movie Twister. When Hagar was asked to sing on a song intended for a compilation album, he refused. Relations between the singer and (Eddie) Van Halen were at an all-time low already, so Hagar left the band in June 1996. David Lee Roth was asked to play (sing) along on two songs: Can’t Get This Stuff No More and Me Wise Magic, which were both included on Best Of – Volume I.
According to the Van Halen brothers the initial invitation was the first of many “baby steps” to a possibly more permanent collaboration. Roth had interpreted it totally different. On September 4, 1996, Van Halen was asked to give out an award (to Beck) at MTV’s Video Music Awards. They came, with David Lee Roth. The audience was delighted. Could it be real? Roth was confident and started strutting around the stage like he used to do in the old days. During those few minutes on stage, the Van Halen brothers already had had enough. Upon exiting the stage, Roth was told on the spot that a reunion was off the table and any future plans were hereby revoked. Eddie Van Halen stated that Roth was disrespectful, crude and ill-mannered. Roth felt betrayed and used. On October 2, 1996, he published an open letter.
To Whom This May Interest:
You’ve probably heard rumors that Van Halen and I will not be consummating our highly publicized reunion. And since neither Edward, Alex, nor Michael have corroborated or denied the gossip, I would like to go on record with the following: Eddie did it.
It’s no secret, nor am I ashamed of my unabashed rapture at the prospect of resurrecting the original Van Halen. A “couple of songs” was all I knew for sure when Edward and I got together three months ago to write them. At that time, the band tip-toed around me sprinkling sentiments like, “this isn’t a sure thing, Dave; this doesn’t mean anything long term, Dave; we’re still auditioning other singers, Dave.” I was cool. I was happy. I was in the moment.
The next thing I knew, the four of us are doing a surprise walk-on at the MTV Awards. I told Edward at that time that I didn’t think it was a good idea for the band to go to New York half-cocked; and that I didn’t want to imply by our presence that we were “back” if in fact it was just a quickie for old time’s sake.
Well ain’t hindsight always 20/20… Had I asked for something in writing, this wouldn’t have happened. Had I acknowledged the occasional icy grip in my stomach, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. But I didn’t. Like I said–rapture. And, I love these guys. Do I trust them? That question never entered my mind.
Then, a series of events last week led me to discover at about the same time the press did, that the band, along with their manager, had already hired another lead singer, possibly as long as three months ago. I wonder how he felt the night of the MTV Awards. It certainly explains why on that night Edward looked as uncomfortable as a man who just signed a deal with the Devil. I can’t think of a reason Edward would lie to me about being considered for the lead singer when he had already hired someone, and then let me appear on MTV under the impression that there was great likelihood that Van Halen and I were reuniting. As I said, I told him in no uncertain terms that I didn’t want to do the MTV gig as a band unless we were, in fact, a band.
And so I apologize to my fans and my supporters, and to MTV. I was an unwitting participant in this deception. It sickens me that the “reunion” as seen on MTV was nothing more than a publicity stunt. If I am guilty of anything, I’m guilty of denial. I wanted to believe it just as much as anyone else. Those who know me know that trickery was never my style.
David Lee Roth, 10/02/2996
The Best Of – Volume I compilation was released on October 22, 1996. It contained the last two songs the original/classic line-up of Van Halen would ever release. They did try again in 2000 though, but nothing came of it.
And again, who’s right here? It’s impossible to ascertain for outsiders. Van Halen and Roth still have their own way of looking at issues surrounding the band.

Van Halen in 2015
Van Halen and Roth reunion 2007
On January 24, 2007, Billboard magazine published that the Van Halen reunion everyone was waiting for would finally become a reality. Bass player Michael Anthony was replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang. The US and Canada tour started late 2007 and would run well into 2008.
The band would make an album as well. On February 7, 2012, A Different Kind Of Truth was released, a surprisingly good album. The album was followed by another tour, that would take the band outside of the US in 2013. On March 31, 2015, the band released a live album, Tokyo Dome Live In Concert. Shortly thereafter, another US tour was announced.
1984 royalties
Following the release of Best Of – Volume I Van Halen had renegotiated their royalties, including those for 1984. Michael Anthony was told he could stay on with the band if he signed over his royalties rights, as he hadn’t really contributed anything to the music (by words of Eddie Van Halen). Amazingly, Anthony agreed. Late 2002 Roth found out the rest of the band earned 5 times as much than him on royalties. Roth sued the band and the record company for money withheld from him, a lawsuit he would win.

Eddie Van Halen – Tear
1984 tribute
On October 6, 2020, Eddie Van Halen passed away, he was 65 years old. Upon hearing of his death, Margo Nahas was sad. She took one of the original cherub prints, added a tear and posted it on her Facebook page.
In closing
The story of 1984 is an exciting sequence of moments, opinions, arguments, but above all great music. What’s your take on it all? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: 1984 and the end of the classic Van Halen line-up. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.