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David Lee Roth is drawing the curtain on his career this winter after five more shows in Las Vegas.
"I am throwing in the shoes. I'm retiring," Roth revealed in a new interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal. "This is the first, and only, official announcement. You've got the news. Share it with the world."
Earlier this week, the Van Halen co-founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer confirmed a short Las Vegas residency, with five shows: December 31 and January 1, 5, 7 and 8.
Roth doubled down on his decision not to elaborate.
"I'm not going to explain the statement," he continued. "The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows."
Roth's retirement declaration comes just two years after he relaunched his solo career, understanding that Van Halen was unlikely to perform again and that his own days onstage were numbered. "If you saw my X-rays, I'm 65 going on 80," he joked in one interview.
He was also due to support KISS in 2020 on the North American leg of its 'End of the Road' farewell tour. But when the postponed tour resumed this summer, Roth was no longer on the bill with no explanation as to why.
Roth says he's been thinking a lot about the late-Eddie Van Halen recently, whom he called his "beloved classmate." He added that he communicates weekly with Alex Van Halen and the two "laugh like pirates."
"I've given you all I've got to give," he concluded. "It's been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I'll miss you all. Stay frosty."