DAVID LEE ROTH: VAN HALEN 'Would Be Most Honored' To Perform At Next Year's SUPER BOWL

VAN HALEN fan site Van Halen News Desk has posted an open letter from the band's singer, David Lee Roth, regarding the rumors that they will perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in early 2013.

Said Roth: "I'm compelled to address the now-rampant rumors that VAN HALEN is playing the Super Bowl. First of all let me say this — be still my pigskin heart. That honor has not been bestowed upon us at this time, though it is one we would accept in a NY minute.

"Having heard VAN HALEN blaring through stadium speakers on any given Sunday — more like every given Sunday, the idea of playing there live would be like — 'Okay, now we're in the game.'

"VAN HALEN's collective memories are — and with all due respect to each and every one of these memories, teeming with been-theres and done-that's, but none include playing at the Super Bowl. Playing at the Super Bowl is a veritable holy grail of musical recognition, a highly prized rite of passage for (game-changing) artists. Not a spiritual rite with snake pits or Hebrew school or anything, but it's up there.

"We are not on Commissioner Goodell's dance card at this time, but we would be most honored to dance the halftime away in New Orleans. It's an honor to be considered and for that we would like to thank the rumor mongers all over the World Wide Web."

According to The Pulse Of Radio, VAN HALEN has now officially canceled the 31 North American tour dates it initially postponed in May. Although the band itself has not confirmed the cancellations, Pollstar reported that Ticketmaster was listing all shows after June 26 as canceled, with refunds now available at the point of purchase. The shows, which were supposed to begin on July 7, included stops in Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis, Sacramento, Reno and Milwaukee.

The fact that the shows have now been scrapped completely, as opposed to just postponed to a later date, will probably fuel another round of speculation about the future of the band and its internal relationships.

Both singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen denied rumors that they were fighting again on the road, with fatigue and an over-ambitious schedule given as the reasons for curtailing the group's live work.

Eddie told USA Today last month that the band will resume touring in November with shows in Japan, adding, "In the new year, we'll possibly do something special, but I can't talk about it."

Eddie also told Guitar World in a new interview that the band intends to stick around for a while, saying, "It feels more like a band and a family than it ever has . . . We're all very opinionated about things, but it's all for the benefit of the music."

The band has been supporting its new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", VAN HALEN's first album in 14 years and first with Roth since 1984.