David Lee Roth has unveiled a new solo song titled “The Shit That Killed Elvis.”
It’s a bouncy acoustic ditty that tackles the perils of fame: “Give me the babes and the dames, the groupies and hoes. The ones with no last names, I’m talking best in show,” Roth declares at one point, before noting that such a lifestyle will land him in a “tomb with a view” because of “death by pizza.”
Listen to “The Shit That Killed Elvis” below. The song originated from a stage musical Roth was working on several years ago with guitarist John 5.
“It’s called Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar & Grill, and it was designed as a jukebox musical after seeing what the South Park fellows did,” Roth told Rolling Stone, alluding to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Book of Mormon musical production.
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“I saw the play and went home and we started putting together what I guess is called a jukebox musical, but it’s not particular to Van Halen,” Roth said. “Indeed, we can create Van Halen material as the interstitials, but we have 15 songs ready to go, and it’s my story. Indiana kid goes to the big city, sells his soul to the devil. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets Dave. It’s knockout stuff.”
David Lee Roth’s Abandoned Musical
Despite Roth’s enthusiasm for the project, his musical never materialized. The songs he recorded with John 5 remained unheard for years.
Then Roth released the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill” in 2020 as a tribute following the death of Eddie Van Halen. Soon afterward, Roth issued five more songs as part of an interactive online comic book.
Material has gradually trickled out since then, including the songs “Pointing at the Moon” and “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then.” “Manda Bala,” a Latin-tinged song that was originally included in Roth’s webcomic, was recently released as a stand-alone song.
Despite this, there has still been no word on whether any of this material will be included on an official album.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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