By 1984, David Lee Roth had tired of having to share Van Halen’s limelight with its all-star super shredder, Eddie Van Halen. So he flew the nest with the intention of not only establishing himself as a solo artist but going one better than the band with whom he’d made his name.
According to Alex Van Halen, Eddie’s decision to record the solo for Michael Jackson’s "Beat It" solo in secret proved the final straw for the singer. David Lee Roth saw red and headed for the exit.
But if the attention-craved singer was to take Van Halen’s throne, he needed the personnel to take him to the next level. After releasing his debut EP, Crazy From the Heat in January 1985 — 40 years ago this month — he set about assembling a supergroup worthy of the cause. Over the next decade and a half, Roth would welcome three huge guitar playing talents into his world as he vied to cast the limelight-soaked Eddie Van Halen in shadow.
First, he secured the virtuosic services of Steve Vai, who had left Frank Zappa’s band two years prior. Alongside bass player Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette, Roth showed his first major hand and demonstrated an astute eye for talent.
Vai’s post-Zappa career saw him release his first solo album, Flex-Able in 1984 and join Alcatrazz. Then he found himself helping shape the solo career of Van Halen’s outspoken frontman.
“My ideas were being depended on, because I was the guitar player and it was very cool,” the guitarist remembers of his time in the band [via VRP Rocks]. “Throughout my teenage years, I was really into Led Zeppelin, Queen, Deep Purple. So I had the rock and roll thing in my soul.
“When Dave came along, it was an opportunity to stretch that muscle and it resonated well because he has a bizarre sense of humor, and so do I. It worked. Something like 'Yankee Rose' with the talking guitars? Sophisticated rock stars don't do stuff like that!
“The energy that the whole band created was indestructible,” Vai continues. “He depended on us to write the music, to write lyrics and melodies too. Not only did I have the freedom to write what I wanted, I had to push myself to go beyond my own vision.”
Roth's debut LP, Eat ‘Em and Smile was released in 1986. The landmark success of its lead single, "Yankee Rose" — talking guitars and all — was a strong showing, and it proved to any doubters that Roth meant business.
Many were quick to compare Vai to Eddie Van Halen ± just as Jake E. Lee was fielding comparisons between him and Randy Rhoads around the same time — but Vai didn’t see it like that.
“Having the shadow of Edward looming over me… to feel the pressure would mean I was competing with him,” he says. “You can't do that.”
Vai left the band for new pastures after 1988’s Skyscraper. Roth again showed his shrewd eye for guitarists by hiring Jason Becker, who had blazed a trail alongside Marty Friedman in Cacophony.
“It was very exciting,” Becker remembers about his entrance into DLR's world. “At that time, I was pretty confident about my guitar playing. Once I met Dave and all the guys in the band, I was totally comfortable. They all made me feel so appreciated and welcomed me and my youthful energy. At a fancy dinner at Dave's house, he made a toast to 'the new gunslinger in town.' ”
However, Roth’s best-laid plans, which revolved around his new hot-shit gunslinger, began to unravel. While working on Roth’s third solo album, A Little Ain't Enough, Becker was plagued by a nagging pain in his left leg.
A year later, having barely left his teenage years behind him, he was diagnosed with ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It was predicted he had less than five years to live and was losing his strength rapidly.
Becker was able to complete his parts but his playing style suffered. Unable to rely on speed, he looked to one of his earliest influences for help.
“I think Eric Clapton's playing was a great building block for me,” he told Guitar Player in 2012. “You definitely wouldn’t hear his influence on my style in my earlier recordings, like Perpetual Burn, unless you dig deep.
“On the Roth album and as my hands got weaker, you can hear a little more Clapton in my notes.”
Ozzy Osbourne touring guitarist Joe Holmes was drafted in for the live shows, but with the rise of grunge, Roth's brand of brazen glam metal was falling out of favor.
Steve Hunter featured on Roth's Nile Rodgers–produced fourth LP, Your Filthy Little Mouth, in 1994, before the singer found another legend-in-making: John Lowery, who would eventually become popular as John 5,
Guesting on Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn’s No F’n Regrets podcast in 2021, John 5 revealed he got the gig in the strangest of circumstances.
“I remember sitting on the couch — and I loved Van Halen, loved David Lee Roth — and I’m going, ‘I wonder what Dave’s doing…’” he recalls.
John 5 managed to get three songs before his idol after calling a phone number he found in a promo book for Crazy From the Heat. Among his demos was "Slam Dunk!," a song he describes as “my best Van Halen song impression.”
Before he knew it, he was a part of the band, tracking and mixing an album across a warp-speed 11 days. "He goes, ‘We’re going to make a record, just like the old Van Halen days, we’re going to do everything live,’" John 5 recalled.
The energy that the whole band created was indestructible. I had the freedom to write what I wanted and push myself to go beyond my own vision
Steve Vai
“He would have palm trees in the studio; he would have sand in a studio; he’d have drinks set up, and it was just the greatest. He knows everything — he knows every beat, he knows every chord. He’s very, very tuned in.”
John 5 was on double duty handling electric guitars and bass for 1998's DLR Band, the group's first self-titled album. The lineup also included an unknown drummer called Ray Luzier who would later join Korn, one of the grunge bands that nearly killed Roth's solo career.
John 5 didn’t stick around for another record, ultimately joining Marilyn Manson, and then Rob Zombie. However, his trajectory, like Vai's, has continued to rise since their DLR days.
While Roth's solo career never got close to reaching Van Halen’s dizzying heights, he at least showed a knack for promoting young talents and it could be argued neither Vai nor John 5 would have enjoyed the level of success they’ve without their brief moments beside the singer.
