Roth Reveals Why He Will Never Marry

David Lee Roth has laughed off the suggestion that he’s in a gay relationship, and explained why he’ll never get married.

And the singer says he’s glad he split with Van Halen during the 1980s – because it made him a more interesting person.

Roth tells Buzzfeed.com: “ I’ve lived alone my whole adult life. I’ve had girlfriends. I’ve had love affairs. Never longer than a year and a half.

“I’m the drunk who won the lottery – I’m going to be very difficult to convince of a lot of traditional things. I put off getting married when I found out: oh, you don’t really have to! There’s a lot of us out there.”

He returned to Van Halen in 2006 after leading a solo career, and was at the helm for last year’s album A Different Kind Of Truth. “I wonder who I might have been had I stayed in the band,” he reflects. “Not as interesting, not as involved.

“I probably would have followed the more traditional, long, slow climb to the middle. Enjoying my accomplishments, living off my residuals. I wouldn’t have half the stories to tell.”

Having said that, he still thinks of the band’s first glory days. “We lived our lives like roughnecks,” he recalls. “Roustabouts, circus carnies. I wonder if it’s still a dream to live the way we lived. I know the success part of it is. Not just the partying, but the travel, the late nights – not just with groupies, but with all kinds of colleagues in a variety of other pursuits. I wonder if I even see that in people’s eyes.”

And he believes that one of the key changes in his life was the rise of grunge music. “Two words: Kurt Cobain,” says the singer. “I went from playing to 12,000 people to 1200, from arenas to casinos and state fairs to the local House Of Blues.

“That will cause you to reflect a lot more clearly on your values. Fun wasn’t seen as fun any more.”