Don't Expect Alex Van Halen To Join David Lee Roth's Retirement Party

Alex Van Halen will probably not join his longtime bandmate onstage in Las Vegas this winter for what David Lee Roth says will be his final run of concerts.

Roth announced his farewell residency at the Las Vegas House of Blues early in the fall. This month, he added four more shows, bringing the grand total to nine concerts occurring from New Year's Eve to January 22.

Diamond Dave has suggested recently that he and his longtime Van Halen drummer Alex speak regularly and "laugh like pirates" when they do, but Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang doesn't think that friendship will amount to a reunion between the pair.

"I don't think so," Wolfie told Spin, when asked about a possible reunion between Roth and his uncle. "I'm not talking for Al or anything ... I haven't talked to Al about it. But I mean, that doesn't really seem like something Al would do."

Wolf, who spent most of his teens and 20s as a member of Van Halen alongside his father, uncle and Roth, added that he's seen an awful lot of VH reunion rumors over the years that had no merit.

"The thing with Van Halen that people should have learned [by] now is that if it doesn't come from them, it's not true," he continued. "And Al has not made any public statements about this. So I wouldn't expect it. If he didn't say it, it's probably not true."

He noted that while his father gets well-deserved credit for being the brains behind the music in Van Halen, his uncle was the band's leader in most other respects.

"People love to talk about dad and the way he ran the band, but that's not really true," Wolf said. "Al's kind of the one who was in charge and in the way that the band publicly sort of related."

Alex Van Halen has not granted an interview since before his brother's death in October of 2020. The last public statement he made was in June of this year to promote a charity auction of his 1983 'Invasion' tour drum kit.

In a recent conversation with Consequence, Wolfie noted that despite Van Halen's activity between 2006 and 2015, he and Roth never formed much of a relationship.

"We were always cordial on tour together, but it's not like I've spoken to him at all in the last six years," Wolfie said. "But, I mean, he's f---ing David Lee Roth. I'm so happy for him and for everything that he's accomplished. And he's just a phenomenal... He'll always be one of the best."