Daryl Hall has confirmed that he was asked in the mid-‘80s to replace David Lee Roth as frontman of rock band Van Halen.
“Actually, yes,” the 75-year-old singer replied when asked about the tale during an interview on iHeartRadio’s Q104.3 in New York City.
“I knew those guys really well,” Hall explained. “We actually shared some people… crew and things like that. Eddie came to a show with [wife] Valerie [Bertinelli] – this goes back, you know. David had just left the band, and Eddie asked me, ‘Do you wanna join Van Halen, man?’”
Hall, one-half of Daryl Hall & John Oates, added: “He was half joking but I think he was serious. I really do believe he was serious. I took him seriously. I went, ‘I think not, I think I’ve got my own s**t going on.’”
Eddie was clearly a fan of Hall. Van Halen’s 1983 hit “Jump” features a synth part inspired by “Kiss on my List,” the 1981 song by Daryl Hall & John Oates. “That is what he always told me,” Hall recalled.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hall recalled touring with David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust period (“He was electrifying. I had never seen anything like it”) and said that he and Oates have no plans to go on tour – despite 2022 marking the 50th anniversary of their debut album.