David Lee Roth is sticking to his statement that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame told him he was not allowed to perform at the ceremony to induct Van Halen into the hall.
But Joel Peresman, the Hall's president and CEO, said in a Saturday e-mail to The Los Angeles Times that Roth is telling only part of the story.
"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is sorry that David Lee Roth will not attend this year's induction of Van Halen. We offered him opportunities to play and sing a Van Halen song of his choice with our House band, including his own guitar player or a song with Velvet Revolver and he refused those opportunities."
Peresman concluded the e-mail with a curt denial that the Hall is somehow the bad guy in all this: "We made every effort and the decision not to come was solely his, not ours."
According to the Times, the Roth camp says that the only offer they had received before Friday was an invitation to perform "You Really Got Me" with Velvet Revolver. Roth balked in part because that song, off Van Halen's first album, was originally recorded by the Kinks and is not a "true" Van Halen song.
Roth wanted to sing "Jump," but with rehearsal time limitations, and other logistics, it was not possible.
According to the Times, Hall officials, privately, were surprised and wondered if Roth really wanted to perform at all. They also said if he had traveled east to New York to work with the producers on site, everything would have worked out.
Roth, meanwhile, said he felt like the Hall was more concerned with Velvet Revolver's issues than the band getting inducted. He said he's been preparing since December for the Hall event and loathes the prospect of missing it. "It rips my heart out," he said Thursday.
Eddie Van Halen will not be at the ceremony either. He's in rehab.
