David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen shared a stage again for the first time since Van Halen’s final concert, but their long-awaited public reunion centered on conversation rather than music.
The singer and drummer appeared together at TEDxFargo in North Dakota on July 30. Artist Robert Vargas moderated their discussion about art, music and the creative process.
Roth and Alex did not perform, and the event was not presented as the beginning of a tour or a new Van Halen project.
The recorded conversation is expected to be released through YouTube and TEDxFargo’s platforms in the coming weeks.
The Appearance Ended an Almost 11-Year Public Gap
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Roth, 71, and Alex, 73, had not appeared publicly onstage together since Van Halen completed its final tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 4, 2015. That concert featured Roth on vocals, Alex on drums, Eddie Van Halen on guitar and Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass.
Eddie died from cancer on October 6, 2020, at age 65. The band did not continue without him, making the Hollywood Bowl performance its final concert. According to People’s report on the reunion, Roth and Alex appeared relaxed and smiled alongside Vargas during the Fargo event.
The appearance marked a significant shift from the more contentious descriptions of their relationship that emerged while Alex was promoting his 2024 memoir, Brothers.
A Proposed Tour Collapsed After a Dispute Over Eddie
Alex previously said he attempted to organize a Van Halen tour after his brother’s death, with Joe Satriani considered for the difficult role of performing Eddie’s guitar parts. In a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, the drummer said he wanted each concert to include an acknowledgment of Eddie, possibly through archival footage displayed during the show.
Alex claimed Roth reacted angrily when he proposed the tribute. “The moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave f—in’ popped a fuse,” he said, describing the singer’s reaction as unexpectedly hostile.
A representative for Roth rejected Alex’s account as “nonsense” but did not provide a detailed alternative description of why the proposed tour failed.
Their Complicated History Goes Back Decades
Roth joined the Van Halen brothers and bassist Michael Anthony during the band’s formative years in Pasadena, California. The original lineup released its self-titled debut album in 1978 and produced a run of successful records that included Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, Diver Down and 1984.
Roth left the group in 1985 following growing creative and personal tensions. He briefly reunited with the original lineup to record two songs for the 1996 compilation Best Of – Volume I before returning more permanently in 2007.
The later lineup replaced Anthony with Wolfgang and released A Different Kind of Truth in 2012. Roth remained Van Halen’s vocalist through the final tour three years later.
Alex Still Recognized What They Created Together
Alex wrote in Brothers that Roth’s original departure felt like a betrayal because it ended the lineup that had created the band’s defining sound. Despite documenting their arguments, the drummer also acknowledged that the four original members produced their strongest work together.
His connection with Roth continued after the band’s collapse. Alex revealed that the singer was the first person he called after Eddie died. He explained that Roth remained important because of the music they had created, the history shared by their families and the years they spent building the band from the beginning.
Fans Will Eventually Hear the Full Conversation
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Vargas described the TEDxFargo session as a discussion spanning art, music and the creative process. Vargas said the filmed conversation would be posted on YouTube and TEDxFargo’s platforms “in a few weeks” for the public to watch.