10 Greatest Hard Rock Frontmen Of The '80s
1. David Lee Roth - Van Halen
Van Halen were practically a gift from the hard rock gods when they broke onto the scene in 1978. With a mind-blowing debut release, fans could not get enough of the guitar genius that was coming out of Eddie Van Halen's amplifier. Though Eddie may have been the ringleader of the music, David Lee Roth was the 24-hour party animal who brought that sound to the masses.
Though the band may have started in the '70s, they made the '80s their own from one record to the next, with Roth displaying some of the most charismatic performances on record. Once the material was ready for the stage, Roth turned every single live performance into a spectacle, doing everything from wearing spandex to pulling off sword tricks in front of the crowd.
Yeah, Roth might not have been the greatest singer the band had ever seen, but what he didn't have vocally he made up for in making the entire crowd move. Plenty of artists can get by on technical ability, but Roth knew that the best way to engage a crowd didn't always have to rely on the amount of vocals runs you had to do.
Other artists may have an undeniable stage charisma, but the amount of swagger David Lee Roth had was enough to make him a living cartoon character.