David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar? (Poll below)
Which version of Van Halen are you a fan of?
Many people like both versions of the band, but huge numbers of Van Halen fans are bitterly divided on which incarnation of the band is best.
Never has a hugely successful band had such success with one lead singer, cut ties with that singer, then gone on to have such continued success with a new lead singer.
How successful were they under each lead singer?
The David Lee Roth version of Van Halen charted 11 songs into the Billboard Top-100 charts during his time with the band.
The Sammy Hagar version of Van Halen charted 11 songs into the BillBoard Top-100 charts during his time with the band.
What a coincidence huh?
If you combine the Billboard Top-100 Charts and the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, David Lee Roth charted 19 singles, while Sammy Hagar charted 28 singles.
Van Halen started out in 1974 with the name “Mammoth“. The group found that another group was already using that name, so the name “Van Halen” was adopted.
With the 1978 release of their album “Van Halen“, the group was launched into Rock Music stardom.
At that time, Van Halen was:
David Lee Roth – Vocals
Eddie Van Halen – Guitars, Keyboards
Alex Van Halen – Drums
Michael Anthony – Bass
The group went on to release such hits as:
Runnin with the Devil
You Really Got Me
Jaime’s Cryin
Ain’t Talkin bout Love
Dance the Night Away
Beautiful Girls
And the Cradle will Rock
Pretty Woman
Dancing in the Streets
Hot for Teacher
Jump
Panama
I’ll Wait
and many others…
Tensions had been mounting for years between David Lee Roth and the other members of the band and in April of 1985, Roth left the group.
A search began for a new lead singer. Eddie Van Halen surprisingly offered the job to Scandal lead singer Patty Smyth but she declined.
The band then hired Sammy Hagar, former lead singer of Montrose and a successful solo artist, to lead Van Halen.
The first album with Hagar on lead vocals was “5150” which was released in 1986 and is still is considered to be the strongest album of the Hagar era.
With Hagar on vocals, the band released singles such as:
Best of Both Worlds
Dreams
Love Walks In
Summer Nights
Why Can’t This be Love
When It’s Love
Black and Blue
Finish What you Started
Feels so Good
Top of the World
Right Now
Can’t Stop Loving You
Humans Being
and many others…
During the Hagar era, Van Halen was:
Sammy Hagar – Vocals, Guitar
Eddie Van Halen – Guitars, Keyboards
Alex Van Halen – Drums
Michael Anthony – Bass
Just as with David Lee Roth, tensions arose between Sammy Hagar and members of the band and he ended up leaving Van Halen in 1996.
The years since 1996 have been turbulent for the band. For a period from 1996-1999 the band used lead singer Gary Cherone but did not find success on the charts.
The group went on hiatus from 1999-2003 and did not release any material or tour.
From 2003-2005 the group re-united with Sammy Hagar before that version again fell apart.
From 2006 to the present, the group has again been fronted by David Lee Roth.
Michael Anthony left the group in 2006 and was replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s son with Actress Valerie Bertinelli, Wolfgang Van Halen. He was 15 yrs old when he started playing with the band.
In 2007, Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The members inducted were David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and Sammy Hagar. Tensions remained so high within the members and former members that only Hagar and Anthony showed up at the induction ceremony.
The group, with David Lee Roth on lead vocals, still tours to this day.
Who would have known? The biggest single reason for VH’s success has been the guitar virtuosity and song writing ability of Eddie. The biggest single reason for the turbulence and falling apart of both incarnations of VH is Eddie.
sammy hager
I’m voting David because the summer of 1984 was a banner year for me and pop music. I was nine years old and at day camp they had us mock-surfing on landlocked boogie boards to the tune of (what else?) the ‘California Girls’ cover. Naturally ‘Jump’ loomed large in our little-girl list as it was that Van Halen lineup’s OTHER massive hit. However, early bloomer that I was, Steve Perry had me totally distracted with the two colossal hits from his solo debut, ‘Street Talk’.
My next project this evening? Commenting on your Steve Perry entry! ; } Rebecca
(PS: You MUST try to get your hands on ‘Crazy From The Heat’, Mr. Roth’s ghost-written memoir, which begins with growing up at his Jewish grandma’s house. Plus there’s the film ‘Anvil’, the bittersweet real-life saga of two Toronto rock-metal wannabes who just won’t quit).