Music legends David Lee Roth and Mike Love performed together at The Society of Singers’ 21st ELLA Awards last night (Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014) in Beverly Hills, Calif. The event honored Mike Love, lead singer and co-founder of The Beach Boys, producer Nigel Lythgoe, and backup singers The Waters Family.
“Look at all these smiling faces here tonight!” declared Diamond Dave last night. “I’m supposed to make a small address here. I don’t know how small this can be – these are clearly mentors. If you tear open in the first Van Halen album, beach sand falls out. We picked up the ball a few summers after you fellas.” And he’s right. Both eras of Van Halen have a touch of the sunny Beach Boys vibe, if you ask us!
In 1985, Roth released his fantastic cover of “California Girls,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts. Which, incidentally, happened to be peak higher than any Van Halen (or related) song ever released(!), save for “Jump” (No. 1) and “Why Can’t This Be Love” (No. 2).
Watch video below. (Photos by Matt Sayles/Invision for The Society of Singers/AP Images).
Missing the summertime? Here’s our list of the Top Summertime Van Halen Songs.