David Lee Roth has canceled all but one of the remaining dates of his current U.S. tour.
The legendary Van Halen frontman kicked off the tourin April and later added several new shows to his tour schedule, which at one point ran through early September.
On Thursday morning (July 23), it was revealed that several of Roth’s shows — including in Dillon, Colorado; Clear Lake, Iowa; Louisville, Kentucky; and East Moline, Illinois — have all been scrapped. As per David’s official web site, only his previously announced August 7 appearance in Sturgis, South Dakota remains on the schedule.
No reason was given for the cancelations, but there have been reports of empty seats at multiple Roth dates in June and July, leading to speculation that low ticket sales may have contributed to the decision to call of the shows.
Later on Thursday, Sammy Hagar, the singer who replaced Roth in Van Halen dropped a video message on social media in which he addressed David’s tour cancellation and invited David to join him at one of Hagar’s upcoming Las Vegas shows.
Hagar said: “Hey, Dave. Sammy here. I just got a call from [ex-VAN HALEN and current bassist for Hagar’s solo band] Michael Anthony … about your tour getting canceled. And I wanna say from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I hope you’re well. I hope there’s not a physical problem.”
“Honestly, Mike and I love the fact that you’ve been out there doing it, supporting the greatest band in the world that we were both part of,” Sammy continued.
“And, yeah, I’m really sorry. That’s fucked up. Supporting what we did in this band to keep this music alive. You and I, Mikey, Al [Alex Van Halen], Ed [Van Halen] cannot be replaced. So, when you’re ready to carry on, you go, brother. Mike and I support you.”
Hagar then invited Roth to appear with him and Anthony at their Las Vegas residency in September. “Come on, join us,” Sammy said. “Sing a couple of songs, M.C. the damn show. Come out and just do what the f**k you do [laughs], which is pretty damn entertaining. Anyway, hope you’re well. I really do. God bless, brother.”
