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The David Lee Roth Fetish Photo Shoot That Almost Sank Van Halen

ENTERTAINMENT | August 1, 2023

Written by Sarah Norman

Van Halen Were At The Top Of Their Game In 1979

Left: Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen at the Cobo Hall on July 4, 1980. (Photo by Michael Marks/Getty Images) Right: Detail of a Helmut Newton portrait of David Lee Roth, for sale at Backstage Auctions (backstageauction

The budding hypersexual persona of frontman David Lee Roth in 1979 would seem the perfect subject for edgy fashion photographer Helmut Newton. Maybe so -- but there were three other guys in Van Halen who didn't want the bondage-themed photos on their album cover.

When fans went into record stores in March 1980 to buy Van Halen’s third album Women And Children First they found an album cover showing the four members of the group jammed together and grinning in black and white like the American Beatles. They were four friends having the time of their lives.

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