DAVID LEE ROTH On His Working Relationship With EDDIE VAN HALEN: It 'Was Better Than Any Love Affair I Ever Had'

David Lee Roth says his working relationship with Eddie Van Halen was "better than any love affair" he ever had.

The 68-year-old VAN HALEN singer touched upon his songwriting partnership with the legendary guitarist in the first episode of the latest season of his "The Roth Show" podcast, which was released earlier this week.

"My dear departed Ed," Roth said about his longtime bandmate who died in October 2020. "Boy, I miss him. I had a ball with Ed. Walt Disney once said, 'You know what? My love affair with Mickey Mouse was better than any love affair with a woman I ever had.' I've gotta tell ya: playing with Ed, writing songs with Ed, presenting those songs with Ed was better than any love affair I ever had. And some of those songs, I think, might last forever — or until the last syllable of time, like Shakespeare said. They became anthems. Where are they playing 'Jump' right now?"

Roth also reflected on the fact that "Jump" featured Eddie playing the synthesizer, a move which was seen as controversial among fans because Eddie was best known for his dazzling guitar solos.

"I remember when he played it on the keyboard downstairs. I said, 'No,'" David laughed. "Well, we reflect the times, and the times at that time was guitars, guitars, guitars; and 'Jump' was one of those hybrids."

VAN HALEN scored its first number one single in 1984 with "Jump". According to Billboard, the track debuted at No. 47 on the Hot 100 chart in January 1984 and reached No. 1 just six weeks later, an unusually quick ascent for the time, holding at the top spot for five weeks.

Eddie passed away at the age of 65 after a years-long battle with cancer. His death was announced by his son Wolfgang.

Roth, who performed with VAN HALEN for the last time in 2015, tweeted shortly after Eddie's death: "What a long great trip it's been."

Three months before Eddie's death, David said that he didn't know if Van Halen would ever tour again. He told The New York Times: "I don't even want to say I've waited — I've supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can't take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He's a bandmate. We had a colleague down. And he's down now for enough time that I don't know that he's going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You're talking to him."

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.