What Happened To All Former Members Of Van Halen

Van Halen was one of the most influential and hard-rocking bands of all time. They had hits like “Jump,” “Runnin’ with the Devil,” and “Right Now,” and their records have sold almost 80 million copies. They are also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are different from everyone else because of their catchy pop hooks, exciting guitar riffs, and flashy stage presence.

Van Halen kept fans guessing for almost 50 years with huge comebacks and big changes to their band. Eddie and Alex Van Halen, their brother, were at the center of the band, along with Michael Anthony and, later, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass. David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone were the band’s lead singers. Each brought their own style to the group, which led to both success and criticism.

Even though Van Halen had breakups and reunions, their last record came out in 2012, and they officially broke up in 2020. Check out what the band’s members have been doing since they left the famous rock group.

Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen dominated the world of hard rock for decades, but his later years were marked by serious health struggles. In 1999, he underwent hip surgery, and the following year, he had part of his tongue removed due to cancer that later spread to his throat. Though declared cancer-free at one point, he continued undergoing specialized treatments in Germany for years.

Despite being a longtime smoker, Van Halen believed his illness had another cause. “I used metal picks — they’re brass and copper — which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer,” he told Billboard. Unfortunately, the cancer returned, spreading to his brain. He passed away on October 6, 2020, at age 65.

Even with his health battles, he kept Van Halen going, reuniting with David Lee Roth for A Different Kind of Truth in 2012 and touring throughout the 2000s and 2010s. His legacy continues, with his brother Alex releasing unreleased recordings in 2024.

Alex Van Halen
Alex Van Halen was the driving force behind Van Halen’s powerful sound, staying with the band through every era. Unlike his late brother Eddie, he never ventured far into solo work, with his only outside project being two songs recorded for the Twister soundtrack in 1996. That same year, he went through a major personal change, divorcing his wife of 12 years, Kelly Carter.

Years later, in 2013, Alex took legal action against his ex-wife for continuing to use the name “Kelly Van Halen” in her business ventures, arguing it implied an endorsement from the band. After over a year in court, they settled, allowing her to keep using the name.

In 2024, Alex released Brothers, a memoir honoring Eddie Van Halen. Following his brother’s death, he struggled with overwhelming grief and was diagnosed with PTSD. A severe spinal injury further sidelined him, making it difficult to walk or play drums. His journey has been one of resilience, loss, and deep musical legacy.

Michael Anthony
Michael Anthony was a core member of Van Halen for over two decades, but by the late ‘90s, things started to change. Eddie Van Halen gradually sidelined the bassist, limiting his role on Van Halen III in 1998 and later forcing him to take a pay cut for the band’s 2004 tour. By 2006, Anthony was officially out, replaced by Eddie’s teenage son, Wolfgang.

So, what caused the fallout? According to Anthony, his side business rubbed the Van Halen brothers the wrong way. A lifelong hot sauce fan, he launched his own line, Mad Anthony’s, featuring spicy condiments, barbecue sauces, and mustards. “The Van Halens were not okay with my hot sauce,” he told New York Magazine in 2007.

His friendship with Sammy Hagar didn’t help, either. After Hagar left Van Halen, Anthony joined his supergroup, Planet Us, and later played alongside him in Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. “Eddie felt that I was a traitor,” he said. Despite the drama, Anthony has kept rocking—and making great hot sauce.

David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth has always been larger than life. As Van Halen’s original frontman, he blended rock star swagger with stand-up comedy energy. By 1985, he was ready to go solo, releasing seven albums, with his last dropping in 2003. Though he reunited with Van Halen for tours, his interests have taken him far beyond music.

In 2004, Roth trained as an emergency medical technician in New York City, answering hundreds of calls and even saving lives. He also dabbled in radio, briefly hosting The David Lee Roth Show in 2006 after Howard Stern’s departure, though it was canceled after three months. More recently, he co-founded Ink The Original, a skincare line for tattooed skin, and created a series of humorous paintings during the pandemic.

Musically, Roth has been quiet for years. His last major shows were with Van Halen in 2015, and his 2020 tour plans fell apart. However, in December 2024, he resurfaced in a viral video, rocking out to his 2022 cover of Panama—because, well, Diamond Dave never truly disappears.

Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar has always been comfortable doing things his own way. After fronting the ‘70s hard rock band Montrose and scoring solo hits like I Can’t Drive 55, he stepped into Van Halen’s lead singer role in 1985. When he left the band in 1996, he shifted his focus to business, launching the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, inspired by Van Halen’s 1988 song. That venture turned into a successful tequila brand, which he sold to Campari in 2010 for over $100 million—though he stayed on as its spokesperson.

Even as his business empire grew, Hagar never left music behind. He’s toured solo, reunited with Van Halen, and played with bands like the Waboritas, Planet Us, Chickenfoot, and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. Now, in 2025, he’s swapping big tours for a Las Vegas residency, saying, “I don’t think I want to go on tour anymore.”

Hagar and Eddie Van Halen reconciled before Eddie’s passing, and in 2025, he plans to record a tribute song with guitarist Joe Satriani. “It was like this could be a song that Eddie and I would’ve written,” he told Rolling Stone. Even after decades in the business, the Red Rocker is still finding new ways to keep the music alive.

Mitch Malloy
In 1996, as Van Halen scrambled to find a new lead singer after parting ways with Sammy Hagar (and briefly reuniting with David Lee Roth), Mitch Malloy seemed like the guy. A rising rock vocalist with a few charting hits in 1992, Malloy had already recorded some material with the band. But when Van Halen appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards with Roth—without telling Malloy—he took it as a sign. “I go on gut feelings, and it was clear to me that something was amiss, so why continue?” he later told journalist Mitch Lafon. Deciding to step away, he added, “If they don’t want me, let me do them a favor and bow out.”

Malloy didn’t look back. He returned to his solo career, becoming a songwriter in Nashville and releasing multiple albums, including The Last Song in 2023—a fully self-produced project where he played every instrument. From 2018 to 2022, he also fronted Great White, proving his rock career never really slowed down.

Gary Cherone
Gary Cherone made his mark as the powerhouse vocalist of Extreme, the Boston-based rock band best known for their early ‘90s acoustic hits “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted”. When Extreme disbanded in 1996, Cherone found himself in an unexpected role—replacing Sammy Hagar as Van Halen’s lead singer. At the time, both he and the band shared the same manager, making the transition seem natural.

In 1998, Cherone lent his signature raspy, acrobatic vocals to Van Halen III. While the album produced the rock radio hit Without You and sold half a million copies, it failed to win over fans. By 1999, Van Halen decided to part ways with him.

Cherone moved forward with new projects, fronting bands like Hurtsmile and Tribe of Judah and releasing a solo album, Exit Elvis, in 2002. He reunited with Extreme for tours in 2008 and 2023 and even dabbled in gospel music, covering Kanye West’s “God Is” in 2020.

Wolfgang Van Halen
When Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth in 2007, it wasn’t a full return to the classic lineup. Eddie Van Halen had replaced longtime bassist Michael Anthony with his 16-year-old son, Wolfgang. From that moment on, Wolfgang was a key part of the band, both on stage and in the studio. But after Van Halen’s last tour in 2015 and its official end in 2020, he had the chance to explore his own musical path.

Rather than sticking to bass, Wolfgang returned to his first love—the guitar. After playing with Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti’s band, he launched his own project, Mammoth WVH, named after an early version of his father’s band. The hard rock group has released two albums, and their song “Distance” even earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song in 2022.

In 2023, Wolfgang added another milestone to his career, playing guitar on I’m Just Ken, the hit song from the Barbie movie. The track was nominated for an Oscar, and he performed it live at the ceremony. That same year, he celebrated a personal milestone, marrying his longtime partner, Andraia Allsop. With his own music career in full swing, Wolfgang is proving that the Van Halen legacy is still alive and thriving.

Mark Stone
Before Van Halen became a rock powerhouse, it was just a young band called Genesis—later renamed Mammoth—featuring Mark Stone on bass. From 1972 to 1974, Stone played alongside Eddie and Alex Van Halen, but he ultimately stepped away, choosing to focus on college and avoid the added pressure of singing harmonies. His departure made way for Michael Anthony, who went on to become the band’s longtime bassist.

Though Stone never pursued music professionally, he did make a memorable appearance with the tribute band Fan Halen. In 2015, when Van Halen played what would become their final show at the Hollywood Bowl, Eddie Van Halen made sure Stone was there, bringing him full circle to where it all began.

Sadly, Stone passed away from cancer on September 26, 2020, just 10 days before Eddie lost his own battle with the disease. His legacy remains a foundational part of Van Halen’s story.

Ted Templeman
As a top producer at Warner Bros. Records, Ted Templeman played a key role in shaping the sound of rock in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He worked with legends like Van Morrison, the Doobie Brothers, and, most famously, Van Halen. It was Templeman who introduced the band to Warner, blown away by Eddie Van Halen’s guitar skills. His influence ran deep—he produced all five Van Halen albums with David Lee Roth, plus 1991’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with Sammy Hagar.

Templeman maintained strong relationships with band members, even outside of Van Halen. He produced solo projects for both Roth and Hagar and remained close to Eddie until the guitarist’s final days. “He would send texts to me every morning,” Templeman told Billboard, often signing off with “Love you, Ted.”

Though he scaled back work in later years, he co-produced albums for Joan Jett and the Doobie Brothers before releasing his 2020 memoir, Ted Templeman: A Producer’s Life in Music.