David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954),[1] is an American rock vocalist, musician, songwriter, actor, author, artist, and former radio personality. He is best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, and as the lead singer of hard rock band Van Halen across three stints from 1974 to 1985 and in 1996 and again from 2006 onwards. He is also known as a successful solo artist, releasing numerous RIAA-certified Gold and Platinum albums. After more than two decades apart, Roth re-joined Van Halen in 2006 for a North American tour that became the highest-grossing in the band's history [better source needed] and one of the highest-grossing of that year. In 2012, Roth and Van Halen released the comeback album A Different Kind of Truth. In 2007, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen. Roth possesses a vocal range of five octaves and three notes.
Roth was born in Bloomington, Indiana to an ophthalmologist father Nathan Lee and a teacher Sibyl Roth. He has two sisters, one of whom is Lisa Roth, creator of the Rockabye Baby lullaby music series. The family is of Jewish heritage.[8] From an early age, Roth had an interest in the arts, especially film and radio, and said his first music idol was Al Jolson.
After living in Bloomington and later Swampscott, Massachusetts, Roth moved to Pasadena, California, in his teens. He "bounced around" a number of schools and saw a psychiatrist for three years, eventually attending a ranch for troubled teens, where he cared for a horse to build a sense of responsibility.He attended The Webb Schools in Claremont, California, and John Muir High School in Pasadena. While attending Pasadena City College, he met the Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex. During this period Roth worked as a hospital orderly
In his late teens, he was singing solo, as well as with a group called the Red Ball Jets. Roth says this name was a reference to the red dye used in food at that time, including red candy balls, which would exacerbate his hyperactivity and lead to "Monkey Hour" at the family home. (Red Ball Jets is also the name of a brand of sneakers popular from 1951 to 1971.Another Los Angeles group, Mammoth (featuring Alex Van Halen on drums and Eddie Van Halen singing and playing lead guitar), occasionally rented the Red Ball Jets' PA system. Roth agreed to join Mammoth as lead singer. In 1974, when told that another act was using the name, they changed their name from Mammoth to Van Halen.Performing original and cover songs, Van Halen eventually gained local success, becoming a regular feature at the Starwood Club. During their four-month stint there they were discovered. In 1976, Gene Simmons took note of the band (in particular Eddie Van Halen, who Simmons hoped to recruit for his own band, KISS) and assisted them in producing their first demo tape. Although featuring many of the songs that would be included on their future debut album, the tape garnered little major label attention. In early 1977, Warner Brothers' Ted Templeman came to the Starwood, heard the group, and signed them to a contract. Released in 1978, the debut album Van Halen earned the band significant national attention. The album eventually sold more than 12 million copies by 2014. The original Van Halen released five more successful albums over the next seven years. Roth is often credited with promoting Van Halen's image as the quintessential rock band, one devoted to a lifestyle described by David Fricke in Rolling Stone as "a nonstop booze-and-babes party train." Despite this wild image, Roth was key to the band's success both as lead singer and as their principal lyricist. Roth's lyrics worked in harmony with music composed by Eddie Van Halen to create the trademark tunes that helped transform Van Halen, in Fricke's words, into "the monster rock action squad that ruled the charts and the airwaves for seven years."
n early 1985, while still a member of Van Halen, Roth released Crazy from the Heat, a popular solo EP of off-beat standards. Singles for "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" succeeded largely due to innovative music videos (produced by Jerry Kramer and co-produced by Glenn Goodwin and Bobby Diebold), which featured ridiculous characters created by Roth and his Creative Chief Director, Pete Angelus, who directed Van Halen's Roth-era videos.
n early 1985, while still a member of Van Halen, Roth released Crazy from the Heat, a popular solo EP of off-beat standards. Singles for "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" succeeded largely due to innovative music videos (produced by Jerry Kramer and co-produced by Glenn Goodwin and Bobby Diebold), which featured ridiculous characters created by Roth and his Creative Chief Director, Pete Angelus, who directed Van Halen's Roth-era videos.