David Lee Roth Releases New Song, “Giddy-Up,” Featuring John 5

Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth launched an interactive 17-chapter online comic last fall dubbed The Roth Project which had five brand new solo songs worked in. I’ll never begrudge Roth for his artistry — that’s undeniable from a stellar nearly 50 year career, and the comic was a cool idea — but the plodding pace and seemingly never-ending length made it unlikely any but the most diehard of Van Halen fans would finish the thing, even with the promise of new music.

Roth has now listened to reason and put out one of those new songs, “Giddy-Up,” on its own, making it available for all fans to easily stream (perhaps it was always the plan to release them this way). The song follows “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar & Grill,” another song from the set which DLR put out in November and dedicated to Eddie Van Halen.

Notably, guitarist John 5 (Rob Zombie, ex-Marilyn Manson) appears on the track, as well as the other four. Mr. 5 got his first break in the rock world when Roth tapped him to play guitar on his 1998 solo album, DLR Band, and the two regrouped in 2014 to make a new album, the fruits of which we’re just hearing now. The lineup is rounded out by Gregg Bissonette on drums, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, and Luis Conte on percussion.

Have a listen to “Giddy-Up” below. Hopefully it’s not another six months before we hear another tune from this set, because this one’s fun.