The members of Mammoth, including brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen on guitar and drums, respectively, would often borrow Roth’s PA system for their gigs, and a friendship was struck up. Soon after, Roth was asked to join forces with the Van Halen brothers, who had enlisted a new bassist as well, Michael Anthony. The new quartet decided on a name change by the mid-’70s as they played the Sunset Strip — Van Halen (reportedly Roth’s idea). By 1977, the quartet was signed to Warner Bros., and 1978 saw the release of their landmark self-titled debut, one of rock’s all-time great recordings. Mixing heavy metal riffs with punk’s fury, Van Halen were onto a whole new sound, which resulted in the band taking the world by storm. The band issued a string of classic mega-selling albums (1979’s Van Halen II, 1980’s Women and Children First, 1981’s Fair Warning, 1982’s Diver Down, and two years later, 1984), while becoming a major arena-headlining concert draw in the process. Just as Van Halen had hit their peak and appeared they could do no wrong, Roth issued a four-track solo EP in 1985, Crazy from the Heat, with rumors swirling that the bandmembers were bickering behind the scenes and that the singer was going to make a major motion picture. Still, it was a shock to rock fans everywhere when Roth left Van Halen later that year (Van Halen would soldier on with Sammy Hagar filling Roth’s spot) — leading to a war of words in the press. When his plans for the movie proved to be a bust, Roth immediately formed a top-notch solo band, consisting of ex-Talas bassist Billy Sheehan (often called ‘the Eddie Van Halen of bass’), ex-Frank Zappa guitarist Steve Vai, and ex-Maynard Ferguson drummer Gregg Bissonette. In 1986, Roth issued his first full-length solo effort, Eat ‘Em and Smile, which was another hit and gave way to another sold-out tour. Roth had also become a master of creating hilarious and highly original music videos (featuring a wide assortment of wacky characters), especially Van Halen’s ‘Hot for Teacher’ and Roth’s solo clips ‘California Girls,’ ‘Just a Gigolo,’ ‘Yankee Rose,’ and ‘Goin’ Crazy.’
