Paul Stanley has now weighed in on David Lee Roth as a frontman after Gene Simmons made headlines for criticizing the singer’s abilities.
Stanley took to Instagram and wrote, “Speaking of @davidleeroth … I remember seeing him in the 70’s with Van Halen at MSG and thinking to myself ‘There’s a new sheriff in town.’ Just amazing what he had evolved into in a few short years. On stage he’s still Diamond Dave!”
Last week, Simmons was asked by Rolling Stone to confirm whether Roth was officially not returning as the opener for the rescheduled KISS farewell tour dates. Simmons confirmed Roth won’t be back and commented, “…it bears noting that during Dave’s heyday, nobody did what he did. He was the ultimate frontman. Not Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything. And then, I don’t know what happened to him… something. And you get modern-day Dave.” He then added, “I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, you know, doing all that. I don’t want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.”
Once the quote started making the rounds, Roth then responded via Instagram by sharing a black and white photo 18 times to his feed of a child wearing sunglasses and giving the finger with a caption on the photo that simply states, “Roth to Simmons:”