David Lee Roth Turned Down Spot on Motley Crue’s Stadium Tour
For 'The Stadium Tour,' featuring Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Motley Crue had previously extended an invite to Van Halen icon David Lee Roth to join the run, but the singer declined.
News of Roth's potential inclusion came via Los Angeles Times, who, in a fall preview of all the exciting things happening in music, singled out the pending release of Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx's memoir, The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx. They also made note of next's year's highly-anticipated reunion run and that Roth had been asked to join, but rejected the opportunity and told Sixx, "I don't open for bands that I influenced."
The Los Angeles Times did not clarify when Motley Crue had reached out to Roth and whether that was the original intent before 'The Stadium Tour' had been announced in 2020 or if that ask came later on as the dates were being rescheduled for 2021 and again for 2022 following another pandemic-related postponement. Very little is known about what went on behind the scenes as the tour package was being assembled.
Roth last joined KISS on the road as a special guest in 2020 on their ongoing farewell tour. It's doubtful that will happen again however, as Gene Simmons, who later apologized, hurdled some less than praiseworthy comments in Roth's direction through the press.
“It bears noting that during Dave’s heyday, nobody did what he did. He was the ultimate frontman. Not [Robert] Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything," Simmons told Rolling Stone before he continued, "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."
Roth, in turn, shot back by uploading 18 of the same image of a child raising the middle finger with text on the image that read, "Roth to Simmons," on Instagram.
Simmons then issued an apology and said that he did not mean to hurt Roth's feelings.
'The Stadium Tour' begins on June 16 of next year and all of the tour dates can be viewed below.
Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 2022 'The Stadium Tour' Dates
June 16 – Atlanta, Ga. @ SunTrust Park
June 18 – Miami, Fla. @ Hard Rock Stadium
June 19 – Orlando, Fla. @ Camping World Stadium
June 22 – Washington, D.C. @ Nationals Park
June 24 – Flushing, N.Y. @ Citi Field
June 25 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Citizens Bank Park
June 28 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Bank of America Stadium
Jun. 30 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Nissan Stadium
July 02 – Jacksonville, Fla. @ TIAA Bank Field
July 05 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Busch Stadium
July 08 – Chicago, Ill. @ Wrigley Field
July 10 – Detroit, Mich. @ Comerica Park
July 12 – Hershey, Pa. @ Hershey Park Stadium
July 14 – Cleveland, Ohio @ FirstEnergy Stadium
July 15 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Great American Ballpark
July 17 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Miller Park
July 19 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Kauffman Stadium
July 21 – Denver, Colo. @ Coors Field
Aug. 05 – Boston, Mass. @ Fenway Park
Aug. 06 – Boston, Mass. @ Fenway Park
Aug. 10 – Buffalo, N.Y. @ New Era Field
Aug. 12 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ PNC Park
Aug. 14 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Aug. 19 – Houston, Texas @ Minute Maid Park
Aug. 21 – San Antonio, Texas @ Alamodome
Aug. 22 – Arlington, Texas @ Globe Life Field
Aug. 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ SoFi Stadium
Aug. 28 – San Diego, Calif. @ Petco Park
Aug. 31 – Seattle, Wash. @ T-Mobile Park
Sept. 07 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Oracle Park