James Hardwick's Extreme Page - News

David Lee Roth Speaks

October 2, 1996 - Here follows a Reuters press release and an open letter from David Lee Roth. Neither mentions Gary Cherone directly, but it appears that he is the new VH lead singer. There is no confirmation from SRO or Warner Brothers at this time.

The press release reads:

Flamboyant singer David Lee Roth said Wednesday his much publicized reunion with his old band Van Halen was little more than a deceitful publicity stunt and that the band had hired another singer.

The announcement cames less than a month after the band made a surprise appearance at the MTV music awards in New York, their first appearance together since an acrimonious split almost a decade earlier.

"It sickens me that the 'reunion' as seen on MTV was nothing more than a publicity stunt," Roth said in a statement. "I was an unwitting participant in this deception."

Roth claims that while he was under the impression the original Van Halen was reuniting, the band had hired another lead singer as long as three months ago.

Van Halen's record company, Warner Bros, was not immediately available for comment.

Van Halen had appeared to have settled differences with Roth in June when the band parted ways with vocalist Sammy Hagar and said it was recording with Lee Roth for songs to be included on the band greatest hits album which is slated for release this month.

Van Halen, led by Dutch-born lead gutarist Eddie Van Halen, rose to fame in 1978 with its multi-platinum selling eponymous debut album.

The band, who boast such hits as "Right Now" and "Jump", split with David Lee Roth in 1985 after the singer released a best selling solo album.

Since then the band went from strength to strength with Sammy Hagar as vocalist. Their most recent album "Balance" debuted at the top of the U.S. album charts at the beginning of last year.

Here is the Open Letter:

To whom this may concern,

You've probably heard rumors that Van Halen and I will not be consummating our highly publicized reunion. And since neither Edward, Alex, nor Michael have corroborated or denied the gossip, I would like to go on record with the following: Eddie did it.

It's no secret, nor am I ashamed of my unbashed rapture at the prospect of resurrecting the original Van Halen. A "couple of songs" was all I knew for sure when Edward and I got together threee months ago to write them. At that time, the band tip-toed around me sprinkling sentiments like, "this isn't sure thing, Dave: this doesn't mean anything long term, Dave; we're still auditioning other singers, Dave." I was cool. I was happy. I was in the moment.

The next thing I knew, the four of us are doing surprise walk-on at the MTV Awards. I told Edward at that time that I didn't think it was a good idea for the band to go to New York half-cocked; and that I didn't want to Imply by our presence that we were "back" if in fact it was just a quickle for old time's sake.

Well ain't hind sight always 20/20...Had I asked for something in writing, this wouldn't have happened. Had I acknowledged the occasional icy grip in my stomach, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But I didn't. Like I said--rapture. And , I love these guys. Do I trust them? That question never entered my mind.

Then, a series of events last week led me to discover at about the same time the press did, that the band, along with their manager, had already hired another lead singer, possibly as long as three months ago. I wonder how he felt the night of the MTV Awards. It certainly explains why on that night Edward looked as uncomfortable as a man who just signed a deal with The Devil. I can't think of a reason Edward would lie to me about being considered for the lead singer when he had already hired someone, and then let me appear on MTV under the impression that there was great likelihood that Van Halen and I were reuniting. As I said, I told him in no uncertain terms that I didn't want to do the MTV gig as a band unless we were in fact, a band.

And so I apologize to my fans and my supporters, and to MTV. I was an unwitting participant in this deception. It sickens me that the "reunion" as seen on MTV was nothing more than a publicity stunt. If I am guilty of anything, I'm guilty of denial. I wanted to believe it just as much as anyone else. Those who know me know that trickery was never my style.

It's All Over

October 3, 1996 - Extreme have officially broken up.

Here is the press release from Reuters:

Heavy metal band Extreme said Thursday the band has split up after a decade together and over 10 million albums sold, fueling rumors the band's singer Gary Cherone may be joining Van Halen.

Cherone has been working with guitarist Eddie Van Halen of heavy metal band Van Halen and rumors abound he may be joining the best selling act who were earlier thought to have been reuniting with their former vocalist David Lee Roth.

Warner Bros., Van Halen's record company, said nothing has been decided yet but that Cherone is one of the vocalists being considered for the position. Van Halen's management SRO Management declined comment.

Van Halen said in a statement Thursday it has been working with an unnamed singer for the past two weeks but that no announcement will be made until a contract is signed.

Extreme split amicably to pursue other musical interests, a spokesman for the Boston-based band's record label A&M Records said.

Althought Extreme played heavy metal music they scored their biggest hit in 1991 with the acoustic ballad "More Than Words", from the album "Pornograffiti", which topped the U.S. Billboard charts and went on to became a worldwide hit.

The band's last album was 1995's "Waiting for the Punchline." Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt said at that time he was unhappy because the band was having trouble getting radio play since it was being boxed in the heavy metal category.

Bettencourt will release his first solo album, "Schizophonic", in January next year in what promises to be a major musical departure.

Bettencourt sings, plays all the instruments, and produced the record which his record label described as a mix of hip-hop, sampling and cutting edge 1990's sounds.

Flamboyant singer David Lee Roth said Wednesday his much publicized reunion with his old band Van Halen was little more than a deceitful publicity stunt and that the band had hired another singer.

Roth claimed that while he was under the impression the original Van Halen was reuniting, the band had hired another lead singer as long as three months ago.

Van Halen refuted those claims on Thursday saying it had only agreed to record two songs with Roth for an upcoming greatest hits package and had never led him to believe the reunion was permanent.

"We parted company with David Lee Roth 11 years ago for many reasons," the statement said in part. "In his open letter of October 2nd, we were reminded of some of them."

Here is a short article from The Boston Globe.

Here is Van Halen's Official Statement.

Gary Cherone Speaks

October 10, 1996 - Gary's first comments on the Van Halen situation were published today in the Boston Globe. Here is the whole article.