The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Interscope Records has signed American hard rock band Van Halen after the group had been with Warner Bros for 35 years. The band that has sold over 80 million records with Warner Bros and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart is switching labels.
The group that signed the band included record industry heavyweights Lucian Grainge (UMG chairman and CEO), Steven Berman (Interscope Geffen A&M vice chairman) and Jimmy Iovine (Interscope chairman). Jimmy Iovine commented that through a source he “heard the band was available and wanted to work with them. It was decided at the 11th hour.”
It was originally rumored that the band would sign to Sony’s Columbia Records but after negotiations with lead singer David Lee Roth that deal was quickly halted. Roth, who has a separate legal, accounting and management team than band mates Eddie, Wolfgang and Alex Van Halen, was intent on signing to a West Coast label. The Hollywood Reporter‘s source stated, “He was never on board [with Columbia]. It was as complicated as anyone would imagine, when one side says black, the other says white. The label was pretty skeptical that things would work out.”
The Interscope deal is reported to include touring, merchandising, recording and marketing. No release date has been announced for Van Halen’s 12th studio album, which is expected to be released in 2012. This will be the band’s first album since their 1998 release Van Halen III with then lead singer Gary Cherone and David Lee Roth’s first album with the band since the 1984 release 1984.
Van Halen is rumored to make a “special announcement” on Nov. 30 at the Grammy Awards nominations concert.
