David Lee Roth cancels remaining Las Vegas show dates amid coronavirus concerns: 'It's not about me anymore'
The Van Halen frontman was set to retire after completion of his Las Vegas show dates
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Lee Roth has canceled the remaining shows he was scheduled to play at the House of Blues in Las Vegas amid coronavirus concerns, Fox News Digital has confirmed.
The Van Halen frontman, 67, had previously postponed shows scheduled for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and was to play a total of nine shows as he bid farewell to his career as a rock and roll stage performer.
Roth announced he was "throwing in the shoes" back in October during a phone call with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring," he said at the time. "This is the first, and only, official announcement."
David Lee Roth has canceled the remaining shows he was scheduled to play at the House of Blues in Las Vegas amid coronavirus concerns, Fox News Digital has confirmed. (Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for The Brent Shapiro Foundation)
The shows were scheduled to take place on Dec. 31, 2021, and Jan. 1, 5, 7 and 8 of 2022.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When asked if Roth will whisk himself away in another capacity as his Vegas shows were to be his final curtain call, Roth told Fox News Digital in a statement, "It's not about me anymore. When the benefits for Kentucky, Colorado, and Farm Aid kick in; Call me."
During his interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he noted that a conversation with Alex Van Halen was a poignant culmination of the life and career they all had led in their heydays.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roth said that the recent "departure of my beloved classmate" – a clear reference to the late Eddie Van Halen – had been on his mind ahead of Roth’s birthday last year.
David Lee Roth, a rock musician best known for fronting Van Halen a handful of times, was to retire following his now-canceled Las Vegas shows at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. (AP, File)
"I am encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter," Roth said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He also admitted at the time that he expected to be "the first" member of Van Halen to pass away.
"'Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me,’" the musician said. "And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go on stage, I endanger that future."