Van Halen is an American-based rock band that formed in Pasadena, California in 1974. This band has had almost 3 lead singers, and has had drama surrounding the departure of various members, like Gary Cherone, Sammy Hagar, or David Lee Roth.
From 1974-1985, David Lee Roth was the lead singer of the band, and brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen let him be the lead singer for their band Mammoth. They wanted to change their name to something like Genesis, but thwne they discovered that the name Genesis had already been used, they changed it to Van Halen. Alot of their early gigs were at well known clubs, like the Whiskey A Go Go, which is a very well known L.A. nightclub.
In 1984, their album of the same name debuted, with tracks like Panama and Hot for Teacher, many tracks of which had videos on MTV. This album hit #2 on the Billboard charts behind Michael Jackson's Thriller. Basically Roth was kicked out of the band for his flamboyant behavior and overly excited stage persona, almost trying to be like Steven Tyler.
From 1985-1996, Sammy Hagar replaced Roth. And I think he might have been a more well controlled and better replacement. The reason he left is tension began to rise between Hagar and the Van Halen brothers, and it was during the recording of songs for the film Twister. Hagar left on Father's Day in 1996.
From 1996-1999, they had yet another lead singer, Gary Cherone, who was then the lead vocalist for the Boston-based band Extreme. The 1st album they produced all together was Van Halen III, most of the tracks were more mysterious and longer, and most of the tracks were basically ballads instead of the traditional rock songs they had been doing for the past years.
Current members consist of: Eddie Van Halen- lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards and backing vocals
Alex Van Halen- drums and percussion
David Lee Roth- lead vocals
Wolfgang Van Halen- bass, backing vocals
Former members consist of: Mark Stone- bass, backing vocals
Michael Anthony- bass, backing vocals
Sammy Hagar- lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Gary Cherone- lead vocals
Jeebus, that top photo of David lee Roth is scary....hard to tell where the chest hair ends and the shorts and curlies begin...ewww!
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