DAVID LEE ROTH Says He Sold His Publishing Catalog For A Substantial Sum Last Year: I Feel 'Rich'

VAN HALEN frontman David Lee Roth has revealed that he sold his music publishing catalog for a substantial sum last year.

Roth is credited with writing the majority of lyrics for VAN HALEN's first six albums and often claimed to have written every word, syllable and melody during his tenure.

The 71-old singer, who launched a new solo tour earlier this month in Airway Heights, Washington, shared the news of his music catalog sale in a backstage interview with Associated Press on April 10 at this year's Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in Indio, California, where he joined singer Teddy Swims for a rendition of VAN HALEN classic song "Jump".

During the chat, Roth said, "I sold my publishing eight months ago," and told the Associated Press to "ask me how I feel." After the Associated Press interviewer obliged, David said: "[I feel] rich. [Laughs] For the first time in my life I can rub two coins together and create a little interest. No, really."

A number of classic rock artists and their rights holders have been selling their back catalogs, often for large sums, with some deals estimated at as much as half a billion dollars.

KISS, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young are some of the iconic musicians who have recently sold off substantial rights to their music, whether it's just for publishing or the original recordings, known as masters. Investors, major music companies and private equity firms have poured billions of dollars into buying song catalogs, believing that the rise of streaming and growing music revenues will make song rights acquisitions highly lucrative in the long term as they can be exploited for up to 70 years after a musician's death.

When musicians sell their songwriting catalogs, they take a lump sum now, rather than counting on royalties from their music on whatever platform might be most popular in a few decades.

In 2021, Dylan sold the rights to all of his recorded music since 1962 to Sony Music Entertainment for a reported $200 million. Dylan had previously sold the songwriting portion of his catalog — which include music and lyrics — to Universal Music Publishing Group for a reported $300 million. In 2021, Nicks sold her portion of publishing rights to her songs to Primary Wave for a reported $100 million. That same year, Springsteen reportedly sold his catalog to Sony for more than $500 million.

"A lot of the artists that are selling their catalogs are getting to a point in their lives where they are planning their estates, sort of planning for the future and they are at a point in their lives where it makes sense to sell their music to provide for their families," Hannah Karp, editorial director at Billboard, told CNN in January 2022.

In April 2024, it was announced that KISS had sold its catalog, brand name and IP to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment Group in a deal estimated to be over $300 million.

Earlier this year, Roth announced a 30-date solo tour of North America. The VAN HALEN singer will visit California, Arizona and Texas later in the month before playing in Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina and Ontario, among others, in May. June will see Roth hit New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin, among other states. In August, David will play at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Last year, Roth reversed his decision to retire from the touring circuit, announcing a U.S. tour which took place over the 2025 summer.

Roth played his first full solo concert in more than five years on May 3 at the 2025 edition of the M3 Rock Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

Roth originally left VAN HALEN to pursue a solo career following the success of the band's album "1984", but he returned for a stint in 1996 and then took over as VAN HALEN's frontman again from 2007 until 2020, although the band had not toured since 2015.

In early 2021, Roth announced that he would be officially retiring following a residency at Las Vegas's House Of Blues at Mandalay Bay in 2022. "I am throwing in the shoes. I'm retiring," Roth said at the time. "This is the first, and only, official announcement. You've got the news. Share it with the world."

"I'm not going to explain the statement," he added. "The explanation is in a safe. These are my last five shows."

Roth's 2022 Las Vegas residency was eventually canceled because of "circumstances related to COVID".