There was no shortage of fanfare early last year when David Lee Roth joined KISS's 'End of the Road' tour with his new solo band serving as opening act.
Roth had seldom performed live since Van Halen's last tour in 2015 and had repeatedly stated publicly that Van Halen was unlikely to tour again. Plus, his inclusion on Kiss's farewell was a welcome consummation of the two bands' long connection through Gene Simmons.
But as the Kiss tour resumes this week, Simmons confirmed to Rolling Stone that Roth is no longer on the bill. It's unclear as to why, but Simmons suspects Roth just isn't up to the task anymore.
"It bears noting that during Dave's heyday, nobody did what he did," Simmons said. "He was the ultimate frontman. Not [Robert] Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything. And then, I don't know what happened to him… something. And you get modern-day Dave. I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, you know, doing all that. I don't want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor."
It's no secret that Roth has struggled vocally over the years. While he hasn't made any public statement on his sudden exclusion from the Kiss tour, in years past he has expressed concern about the ticking clock on his ability to perform.
In a 2019 interview with Van Halen News Desk, Roth admitted he "paid a price for the time off" when Van Halen was not touring and that his onstage antics have done his body no favors. "If you saw my X-rays, I'm 65 going on 80," he added.
Get all of Kiss's tour dates here.