David Lee Roth is one of rock’s greatest frontman and, overall, one of music’s most unique characters.
When he’s on stage, he’s the ultimate showman. When he’s off stage and talking with the press, he walks a line between brilliant and insane. One minute, he takes off on a stream of consciousness that convinces you he’s not all there. Then he’ll throw out a surprising one-liner that’ll make you think, “Holy s—…Diamond Dave’s has been smarter than all of us this whole time.”
Roth will often release his “stream of consciousness” moments on YouTube nowadays. Back in February, he released a clip about his music video for “California Girls.” Roth, of course, released his cover of the Beach Boys classic in 1985. The cover was featured on the EP Crazy from the Heat. That EP title would be recycled by Roth as the title of his 1997 autobiography.
Roth reflected in the video, “On a personal note: I feel fairly confident saying that these were some of the best times in my life, not the times on stage that my dad most envied about me. These were probably the moments everyone else’s dad envied most about my life, and looking back now, even I envy me.”
It’s comments like that that set DLR apart from most rock figures, both past and present. During his heyday, Roth was one of rock’s biggest stars because he was fronting one of the biggest bands in the world. Plus, not enough can be said about his stage presence. How could you not love those high kicks and toe touches?! Even today, he’s often more interesting than most “current” lead singers in rock. Then again, who else could really replicate his unique brand of madness?
In honor of years of zaniness, let’s wish a happy birthday to the one, the only David Lee Roth by looking back at these ten quotes attributed to him.
