KFIX Rock News: David Lee Roth Says Van Halen Will Play CMT Music Awards

This past weekend, Van Halen’s current lineup gave its first ever performance at an awards show when it played a rocking rendition of “Panama” to kick off the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.

Speaking with ABC Radio after the band’s appearance, frontman David Lee Roth revealed that Van Halen also has been tapped to open another awards ceremony, the CMT Music Awards, which the CMT network will air live from Nashville on June 10.

While a show that celebrates the top artists in country music may seem like an odd forum for the hard-rocking Van Halen, Roth said he believed that his band’s passionate approach to rehearsing and creating music has made it a group that appeals to fans of various musical genres.

“Van Halen, as opposed to many of our colleagues, has a whole different approach to how we pursue our art,” explained the flamboyant frontman. “First off, we don’t pursue it…it’s an obsession. It’s not something we decided. It’s not something we thought would make us famous. It has destroyed us variously in terms of health, finance, family. It’s a trail that extends about four decades and a million years back, okay? But it’s an obsession.”

Van Halen fans may remember that Roth made a foray into the country world when he contributed vocals to a few tracks on the 2006 bluegrass-flavored tribute album Strummin’ with the Devil: The Southern Side of Van Halen.

CMT has yet to make an official announcement about the band’s participation in the awards show.

Meanwhile, ABC Radio also asked Roth how he feels when younger artists or fans come up to him and tell him that he’s a legend or that his music has inspired them.

“Whenever somebody approaches and they say, ‘Oh, you’re a legend,’ I say, ‘Well, that’s as misused as the word ‘genius,'” he noted, adding that his first reaction to such praise is that “it makes my night.”

Diamond Dave then joked that he also had a second, more suspicious reaction, saying, “I’m always concerned that they’re gonna blame me for their bad habits and then tell me one of their children is mine.”

Van Halen kicks off a North American tour on July 5 in Auburn, Washington, and the trek runs through an October 4 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

“Like” KFIX on Facebook.