DAVID LEE ROTH Denies Blasting AC/DC Fans, Says EDDIE VAN HALEN Was 'Culturally Illiterate'

VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth has responded to a recent controversial article on Rolling Stone, "Inside A Superfan's Secret Friendship With Eddie Van Halen", in which a former music journalist opened up about his supposed clandestine five-year correspondence with the late rock icon. In the article, Blair R. Fischer claims that the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist took the opportunity in one e-mail to eviscerate Roth over the fact that VAN HALEN couldn't agree on a way to make new music.

"The reason it took that long for [VAN HALEN's 2012 album 'A Different Kind Of Truth' to come out] is Roth, including all the rehashed demos," the purported Eddie Van Halen wrote. He also blamed the singer for VAN HALEN having "nothing but a live record [2015's 'Tokyo Dome Live In Concert'] to show for three years downtime." The purported Eddie went on to say that Roth only wants to be onstage doing his "Vaudeville shtick!!", adding that "Roth is out of his mind" and not at all interested in rock and roll. The purported Eddie then said Roth only likes "dance music" and "hates bands like AC/DC," claiming that Roth calls that band's fans "culturally illiterate."

A representative for VAN HALEN said the band and Eddie's family declined to comment on the Rolling Stone article, as did a representative for Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony for VAN HALEN's 2007 reunion tour with Roth and remained in the band for the recording of "A Different Kind Of Truth". However, Roth decided to break his silence on the matter, issuing a brief statement to the Van Halen News Desk web site. He wrote: "1. I've always loved AC/DC. 2. I've never said that anyone's audience was culturally illiterate. I said that Ed was culturally illiterate." He added: "God Bless our Troops.."

Eddie died in October 2020 at the age of 65. The legendary VAN HALEN guitarist passed away at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had tongue surgery. He later battled lung cancer and had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. Things took a turn for the worse in early 2019 when Eddie got in a motorcycle accident. He was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and received gamma knife radiosurgery to treat the illness.

VAN HALEN had been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Just three months before Eddie's passing, Roth said that he didn't know if Van Halen would ever tour again. He told The New York Times at the time: "I don't even want to say I've waited — I've supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can't take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He's a bandmate. We had a colleague down. And he's down now for enough time that I don't know that he's going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You're talking to him."

Roth canceled a series of Las Vegas residency shows in January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Three months earlier, he had announced in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was planning to retire after the residency.

Earlier this month, Roth released a new solo song titled "Pointing At The Moon". The acoustic-based, Americana-flavored tune was accompanied by a new abstract painting from Roth.