Eddie Van Halen

Given Van Halen's track record over the past 13 years, one would suspect it had been following some brilliantly devised master plan. Just as Led Zeppelin ruled heavy metal in the 1970s, Van Halen was the genre's dominant act in the '80s, both in popularity and in influence on other hard-rock bands. From "Van Halen," its 1978 debut release, to "OU812," its last album of the '80s, the band scored eight consecutive million-sellers.

It's an old joke, but when David Lee Roth delivers the punch line it sounds more like a mission statement: "How many lead singers does it take to put in a lightbulb? One. You hold the bulb and wait for the world to revolve around you. " Missing from the joke is how the singer is left standing there in the dark waiting for his proper wattage. On Feb. 7, Interscope Records will release "A Different Kind of Truth" and, as the world turns, it will represent the first Van Halen studio album featuring Roth as lead singer since "1984" - which was released 28 years ago this month, right before Ronald Reagan announced plans to run for a second term.

It's an old joke, but when David Lee Roth delivers the punch line it sounds more like a mission statement: "How many lead singers does it take to put in a lightbulb? One. You hold the bulb and wait for the world to revolve around you. " Missing from the joke is how the singer is left standing there in the dark waiting for his proper wattage. On Feb. 7, Interscope Records will release "A Different Kind of Truth" and, as the world turns, it will represent the first Van Halen studio album featuring Roth as lead singer since "1984" - which was released 28 years ago this month, right before Ronald Reagan announced plans to run for a second term.

There's nothing like new motherhood to get you thinking about the nest, which may explain why singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera, whose son was born in January, has listed her Hollywood Hills home for $7,995,000. Or maybe it's just time to change houses, the way she changes her siren looks. The architectural Midcentury sure sounds like an adult's toy box: It has a gym, a pool and a 12-person spa with a fireplace. There's also a professional screening room that seats 18.

'Utter lunacy." With a shake of his tousled locks and a flash of his trademark party-boy grin, guitarist Eddie Van Halen summarizes the recent events that have shaken the world of his band--platinum-selling monsters of good-time rock Van Halen. In the last few tumultuous months, the band has parted ways with Sammy Hagar, its lead singer for the last 11 years.

A charming scam artist claiming to be an assistant to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen successfully used his chicanery in the San Fernando Valley this week, convincing a nurse to give him the keys to her convertible, police said Thursday. Then the man not only stole the car but disappointed 22 quadriplegics, whom he had promised the musician would visit and possibly play for. The thief, calling himself Steven Brokaw, briefly checked himself into St.

Divorced: Actress Valerie Bertinelli and rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen are officially divorced after 26 years of marriage, according to court documents filed this week.

Not that they need a distraction from all the carping between them and David Lee Roth, but the members of Van Halen and Warner Bros. Records have come up with a unique promotion for the album "Van Halen's Greatest Hits Vol. 1," due Oct. 22. Of the initial pressing, 500 CDs will be personally autographed by Eddie Van Halen, while 10,000 others will include a Van Halen "collectors" guitar pick.

One Baby at a Time: Actress Valerie Bertinelli, 30, and rocker Eddie Van Halen, 33, became the parents of a baby boy Saturday night. Wolfgang Van Halen was born at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. Wolfgang is the couple's first child. Bertinelli suffered a miscarriage in 1986, and the couple of 10 years has been trying to have a child ever since, a spokeswoman said.

The boys from Van Halen, most notably mercurial guitarist Eddie Van Halen, showed up as promised at a Los Angeles news conference Monday to announce their fall tour with original singer David Lee Roth, starting Sept. 27 in Charlotte, N.C., and stopping Nov. 20 at Staples Center in Los Angeles before wrapping Dec. 11 in Calgary, Canada.

There are two ways to listen to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," 25 years after its release.

Divorced: Actress Valerie Bertinelli and rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen are officially divorced after 26 years of marriage, according to court documents filed this week.

The fans of Van Halen are a brash bunch but also accustomed to having their hearts broken -- if you inspect their closets closely, you might find tear stains on all that vintage spandex. That's why Tuesday night was an emotional one as the prodigal band, with David Lee Roth back on vocals, came home to Los Angeles to play for the first time since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Instead of sweating to Van Halen, the ravers who packed Staples Center on Tuesday often looked as if they were gaping at a movie. They were; they all had to stand at seats, and the dynamic angles on the behind-stage mega-screen pumped the scene with a cinematic dimension. They had another reason to lurk like peepers behind their cellphone cameras, though: They couldn't quite believe they were seeing Van Halen reunited with singer-ringmaster David Lee Roth after more than two decades.

The boys from Van Halen, most notably mercurial guitarist Eddie Van Halen, showed up as promised at a Los Angeles news conference Monday to announce their fall tour with original singer David Lee Roth, starting Sept. 27 in Charlotte, N.C., and stopping Nov. 20 at Staples Center in Los Angeles before wrapping Dec. 11 in Calgary, Canada.

THE conflicts involved in any long life lived by the artist's code were reflected in many discomfiting moments at this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. But the stubborn exuberance of rock's rebel establishment -- a quality that inductee Patti Smith succinctly described as "joy" -- washed over the mournfulness and made everything beautiful, in patches.

Even before the lights went down Monday at the Arrowhead Pond, he occupied the room, sending up a squall of electric guitar from offstage that was raw and totally shocking. A hot and inspired Eddie Van Halen came to the arena with the band that bears his surname and reinterpreted even the group's own hits with his urgent slashing, leaving the whole notion of rote concert performance in smoking ruins.

Like a lot of fans, Sammy Hagar winced when he heard Monday that he and old rival David Lee Roth would both be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March with Van Halen. "This could be a complete and total disaster. It could be wonderful too. It really could. But it also could be such a disaster and an embarrassment that it goes down in history." Roth was the voice of Van Halen from its mid-'70s Sunset Strip days up into the monster success of the 1980s.

How did that old Van Halen song go? "I found the simple life ain't so simple .... " The iconic Los Angeles metal band is set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a New York banquet Monday night, but now it appears that only one original member, bassist Michael Anthony, will even show up. Eddie Van Halen released a statement Thursday saying he is going into a rehab program.

For Van Halen, the stars seemed aligned for a triumphant 2007. Next month, the group will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the plan was to follow that with a summer reunion tour that would feature David Lee Roth back at the mike for the first time since the Reagan years. But, once again, the backstage soap opera of Van Halen is the story of the day.