David Lee Roth: Age, Biography Update, Net Worth, Relationships, Songs

David Lee Roth, also known as “Diamond Dave,” is an American rock singer born on October 10, 1954. Famous for his energetic stage presence, he was the lead singer of Van Halen during three periods: 1974 to 1985, in 1996, and from 2007 until the band broke up in 2020. Roth also found success as a solo artist, releasing eight albums, with four earning Gold or Platinum status from the RIAA.

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After more than twenty years apart, he rejoined Van Halen in 2006 for a North American tour, which became the band’s highest-grossing and one of the top tours that year. In 2007, Roth was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Van Halen. In the late 1980s, he had solo hits with “California Girls,” “Yankee Rose,” and “Just Like Paradise.”

Profile Summary

Age

Roth was born on October 10, 1954, in Bloomington, Indiana, and is 71 years old.

Biography & Early life

Roth was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Nathan Lee Roth, an ophthalmologist, and Sibyl Roth, a teacher. He has two sisters, including Lisa Roth, who created Rockabye Baby! lullaby music. The family is Jewish. Roth’s uncle, Manny Roth, owned Cafe Wha? in New York City. All four of his grandparents immigrated from Russia, and his great-grandfather was a Lithuanian cavalryman. From a young age, Roth was interested in art, especially film and radio. He said his first music idol was Al Jolson.

Roth spent much of his childhood in New Castle, Indiana. In a 2019 interview with Q95’s “Stuck and Gunner,” he said, “My grandparents moved to New Castle in 1913. It’s in the sense of humor, the ‘get it done’ and how we do get it done approach work ethic of Van Halen, frankly. It’s a Midwest approach, not some flakey Hollywood horse manure.” The Roth family also lived for a short time in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

When Roth was a teenager, his family moved to Pasadena, California. He went to The Webb Schools in Claremont and John Muir High School in Pasadena. Because he was very energetic, his parents arranged for him to see a psychiatrist for three years. He also spent time at a horse ranch for troubled teens to learn responsibility. While studying at Pasadena City College, Roth met Eddie and Alex Van Halen. During this time, he worked as a hospital orderly.

Current projects: 2016–present

In 2014, Roth recorded music with guitarist John 5. In October 2019, Roth said the album would be released soon. As of 2025, the album still had not come out, but several singles were released online.

In October 2020, Roth honored his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen by releasing the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill” from the 2014 sessions. This was the first of five singles from those sessions released between late 2020 and early 2022.

In early 2020, Roth joined Kiss as the opening act for their American tour, scheduled for 43 cities. The tour was postponed about halfway through because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2021, Roth said he planned to retire after a final set of shows at the House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay, scheduled for December 2021 to January 2022. The nine shows were later cancelled, so his last performance at that time was a March 2020 concert in Texas with Kiss.

After announcing his retirement and releasing five original singles, Roth began releasing covers of Van Halen songs during the second half of 2022.

On May 3, 2025, Roth played his first public concert in five years at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland, performing Van Halen classics and deep cuts. He later announced a US tour for summer 2025.

On April 10, 2026, Roth joined Teddy Swims on stage at Coachella, where they performed “Jump” together.

Personal life

Roth has never married. He dated actress Apollonia Kotero in the 1980s and appeared in public with actress Sonia Braga in 1984, including at the first MTV Video Music Awards. In a 2013 interview, he said he had four great loves in his life but did not name them to respect their privacy. He also said that during his 20 years with Van Halen, he “slept with every pretty girl with two legs.”

In 2018, Roth and tattoo artist Ami James started INK the Original, a skincare line for tattooed skin. Roth spent over 300 hours getting tattoos in Japan between 2013 and 2014 and saw the body art market growing. He invested more than $7 million and a lot of time in the company, but it closed in March 2022 for unknown reasons.

Roth lives in Los Angeles, New York City, and Tokyo. In 2004, he became a state-licensed emergency medical technician in New York. In 2012, he said, “I probably have over 200 9-1-1 calls on my ticket in the last six years alone. I live a very different life away from music.” Roth is also a martial artist, training in kenjutsu since age twelve, and practices kenpō and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Since 2006, he has been a licensed private helicopter pilot.

Roth is also a visual artist who creates paintings and drawings focused on social commentary. He describes himself as a “relatively experienced” climber and climbed Half Dome in Yosemite National Park for the Skyscraper album cover and the Just Like Paradise video. In his book Crazy From the Heat, he shares that he climbed in the Himalayas but did not reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Discography

• Eat ‘Em and Smile (1986)
• Skyscraper (1988)
• A Little Ain’t Enough (1991)
• Your Filthy Little Mouth (1994)
• DLR Band (1998)
• Diamond Dave (2003)
• Crazy from the Heat (1985)
• Van Halen (1978)
• Van Halen II (1979)
• Women and Children First (1980)
• Fair Warning (1981)
• Diver Down (1982)
• 1984 (1984)
• A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Net Worth

As of 2026, Roth’s estimated net worth is $60 million, earned from his music career and solo projects.