Van Halen Icon David Lee Roth Powers Independence Day Festival

David Lee Roth is heading back to the stage nearly 50 years after first stepping behind a microphone with Van Halen. The legendary frontman will perform July 4 at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan, where organizers are marking the event’s 100th anniversary with one of rock’s most recognizable voices.

In the mid-1970s, Roth first joined a young Pasadena band that would soon rename itself Van Halen in 1974. Five decades later, the singer once known for backflips, karate kicks, and larger-than-life stage banter is still drawing crowds with the same catalog that helped define arena rock.

Roth’s return to the stage comes after what appeared to be a final goodbye. In 2021, he announced plans to retire from performing following a Las Vegas residency, but those shows were eventually canceled.

His last public concert before stepping away came in March 2020, when he was opening for Kiss.

Then, in May 2025, Roth surprised fans by returning at the M3 Rock Festival in Maryland with a set built entirely around Van Halen classics and deeper cuts.

That comeback paved the way for a full summer run in 2025 and now his upcoming Michigan appearance. Festival executive director Kat Paye said the event wanted a performer capable of matching the scale of its centennial celebration.

“David Lee Roth is a true rock legend, and his high-energy performance will be an unforgettable highlight of this year’s lineup,” Paye said in a statement to local ABC affiliate UpNorthLive 4.

As Van Halen’s original frontman, he led the band through its most commercially explosive years, including the releases of Van Halen, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and 1984.

Songs like “Jump,” “Panama,” and “Hot for Teacher” turned the group into one of the biggest acts of the era.

Roth later found success on his own with solo hits including “California Girls,” “Yankee Rose,” and “Just Like Paradise.” In 2007, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside the members of Van Halen.

Away from music, he became a licensed EMT in New York City and has said he responded to more than 200 emergency calls. He is also a pilot, martial artist, and visual artist.