David Lee Roth Releases New Song Dedicated to Eddie Van Halen

Longtime Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth has put out a previously unreleased track called “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill” — an homage to the famous and infamous Los Angeles Sunset Strip rock bar and restaurant — which he has dedicated to Eddie Van Halen, who died on October 6 of throat cancer at just 65 years old.

The track is from an unreleased album Roth recorded with guitarist John 5 (Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson) back in 2014, the subject of much speculation and curiosity ever since. The two have a history: John 5 got his first break in the rock world when Roth tapped him to play guitar on his 1998 solo album, DLR Band.

In a post to Instagram, accompanied by one of his own paintings — Roth has been painting in earnest since quarantine began and sharing those “comics,” as he calls them, to Instagram — Roth dedicated the track to his late guitarist, offering:

“Hey Ed
I’m gonna miss ya
See you on the other side..”

You can listen to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill” below. Perhaps EVH’s passing will serve as the inspiration needed to finally put the album out.

Last year, Roth discussed whether his album with John 5 will ever be released, telling Detroit radio station WRIF, “It will. There’s been a revision of things, and I can start making real plans and start marching into the future. And, of course, you’ll start hearing that material. This is material that we wrote variously for me solo and for Van Halen, and it’s quite a bank of stuff.”

Earlier this year, Roth predicted Van Halen would never tour again, while Sammy Hagar predicted that they would. In late 2018, rumors that Van Halen, fronted by Roth, would reunite with Michael Anthony for a summer 2019 stadium tour including Yankee Stadium picked up steam. Anthony then revealed he hadn’t spoken directly to the Van Halen brothers since 2004 but confirmed he had been contacted about the reunion. The tour never came to fruition.