Watch David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen Reunite Onstage

Footage of David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen sharing the stage for the first time in over a decade has been released online.

The event, which took place on July 30, wasn’t a performance by the former Van Halen bandmates, but a conversation. The rockers were joined by artist Robert Vargas for a talk called “Beyond Boundaries: How Human Experience Informs Art And Music”, part of a TEDx event in Fargo, North Dakota.

“It’s a gas to be here,” a buoyant Roth declared in the opening moments of the conversation. “This is also a step towards world peace.”

What Caused the Rift Between Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth?

The TEDx event was Roth and Alex’s first public appearance together since Van Halen’s final concert, which took place at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 4, 2015. Though the musicians have remained in contact since then, things haven’t always been cordial. A proposed Van Halen tribute tour in 2022 was scrapped following a verbal altercation between the men — Alex insisted Eddie Van Halen be acknowledged at every show, a suggestion that made Roth “pop a fuse.”

Still, such discourse seemed behind them as Roth and Alex sat together during the TEDx event. While much of the conversation tackled high level concepts regarding art and creativity, several Van Halen nuggets were buried within the discussion.

“Alex and I are always arguing about tonal versus atonal music,” Roth admitted at one point, using the band’s famous hit “Panama” as an example. “I tried to take an atonal approach to the lyrics so that you would feel like … It’s the sounds of the city and the sounds of what’s going on in your head when you’re moving forward at velocity. There’s no actual story [in the lyrics].”

At a different point, Alex noted that Van Halen was always willing to embrace different sources of creativity.

“There was no one predominant style of creativity that took over,” the drummer remarked. We were all very cognizant of that and we were willing to share. There was stuff that Ed and I did that Dave later on added to and embellished. It became better than it was before.”

While the conversation never delved deep into Van Halen’s behind-the-scenes drama, Roth did allude to he and Alex’s history of clashing.

“Alex and I are famous for that,” the frontman admitted. “Oh my God, there should be a star in front of three different clubs in Hollywood where we practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu [against each other] over the set list.”

The full talk featuring Roth and Alex can be found below.