The good news is that since I last wrote about the KNAC poll, Van Halen have streaked ahead! At the time of writing, VH were in the lead with 33,680 votes. GNR are a distant second with 13,350. Over 50,000 people have voted so far.

Tune in at 23:30 ET

Jun 14, 2000 - Some may have taken my June 9 update as being a prediction that Van Halen will announce the return of David Lee Roth on June 26.

Jun 17, 2000 - Former David Lee Roth Band drummer Gregg Bissonette recently released his second solo album, Submarine. It features guest appearances by Steve Vai, Steve Stevens, Joe Satriani and his brother, Matt (former DLR Bassist).

Jun 20, 2000 - On June 16 the Trump Marina Casino in Atlantic City issued a Van Halen chip, valued at $10. It features the 1998 lineup of the band.

Thanks to Mike Harrington for the info and scans.

Jun 22, 2000 - Some Van Halen fans were able to get a sneak preview of the newly designed official Van Halen site yesterday. This happened after the address of the new site was posted to a message board. The new site has since been removed. It will be officially launched on June 26.

June 9, 2000 - It's been just over seven months since it was announced that Gary Cherone was no longer the lead singer for Van Halen. In those seven months, the rumour mills have churned out several "key dates". These dates have been compiled from complex formulae, anniversaries of key dates in Van Halen history, birthdays and award shows among other things.

All have come and gone without a whisper from Van Halen or David Lee Roth.

I've been as guilty as anyone for speculating about some of these dates in the past. After the May 15 (05/15/00) non-event, I swore off trying to predict when the announcement would take place. Well, I've changed my mind and am going to take one more crack at it!

Pencil June 26, 2000 into your diaries as the next possible announcement date.

Where did I pull this date from? I'm glad you asked! Let's have a look at a few Van Halen events related to June 26.

• June 26, 2000 is a Monday (OK, it gets better).
• Van Halen issued a press release on June 26, 1996 to announce that Sammy Hagar was no longer in the group and that they were working on new tracks for the upcoming Best Of album with David Lee Roth.
• Van Halen's official web site is currently being overhauled behind the scenes and is scheduled for relaunch on, you guessed it, June 26, 2000.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying something will happen on June 26! Actually, I am. The official Van Halen web site is scheduled to be re-launched on this date. Hopefully it will coincide with the announcement we've all been hanging out for.

June 14, 2000 - Billboard.com reports that Sammy Hagar has formed his own record label. Cabo Wabo Records, a joint venture with Beyond Records, will release Hagar's next solo album, tentatively titled "10/13", in October.

According to the Billboard report, Sammy's contract with MCA records expired last October. It's not known if Beyond Records is the same company as Beyond Music, the label that is now releasing re-issues and new material from Motley Crue.

Hagar's manager, Kenny Puvogel has confirmed earlier reports that Sammy's original plans for an anthology were shelved in favour of a complete new studio album. "10/13" (a reference to Hagar's birthday, October 13) will be produced by Mike Clink (Guns N' Roses, Heart, Megadeth).

June 21, 2000 - I've created a new section to house all the interviews conducted on behalf of the site with VH/DLR/SH-related people. At the moment there are only two interviews there, but I plan on adding many more over the coming months.

The interviews section can be accessed from the menu at the top of the site.

As I stated earlier this month, the re-designed official Van Halen site will be launched on June 26. We've been promised "all the Van Halen you can handle - in cyberspace and beyond". Hopefully Van Halen will give their fans some sort of clue about the current status of the band.

June 26, 2000 - The official Van Halen web site was re-launched in the early hours of this morning. A "Flash" animation replaces the old splash screen, naming the three current members of the group. After the intro, a click of your mouse takes you into the newly designed site.

The main page features new sections such as "Photo of the Week", "Did You Know" (trivia), "VHistory" (on this day), and a link to the Wolfgang Report. News about the band is no longer featured on the main page. There is also an interactive daily trivia question.

New sections such as "The Jape" are still marked as coming soon. Almost everything from the old site has been brought across and given the makeover.

Fans looking for the David Lee Roth biography, or any other new information about the current status of the band will be disappointed. The time obviously still isn't right for the big announcement.

Overall I think the site is now up to the professional level expected for an official band web site. The old frames are gone, the design is slick, and navigation is much easier than before.

The Official Van Halen Web Site

June 28, 2000 - Bart Walsh is best known to fans of this site as David Lee Roth's guitarist for the DLR Band 1999 world tour. Before that gig he was the founding guitarist for the Atomic Punks, a band known as arguably the finest Van Halen tribute in the world.

After the DLR Band tour ended it was rumoured that Bart would resume his role in the Atomic Punks. The reunion didn't eventuate, and Bart hasn't spoken on the record since the last DLR Band gig in early January.

I managed to track Bart down in early March, and he agreed to do an interview for the VHND. The interview was conducted by email. Bart sent his answers to me on June 27, 2000.

Click here for the Bart Walsh interview