During a new interview with Rolling Stone, Rage Against The Machine’s guitarist Tom Morello opened up about former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth‘s recent retirement announcement and KISS’ farewell tour. According to the musician, Diamond Dave’s retirement marks the ending of the Van Halen era, whereas KISS might be staying a little longer.

As many of you know, David Lee Roth has an extraordinary music career that spans over nearly five decades, during which he gained recognition as the energetic frontman of Van Halen. Roth spent three periods with the band; from 1974 to 1985, 1996, and from 2006 to their disbandment in 2020, following the tragic loss of lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Since then, there have been speculations regarding Van Halen’s reunion even though Eddie’s son and the band’s ex-bassist Wolfgang Van Halen stressed that the band split up for good. What the future holds for DLR was a matter of curiosity for many fans since he was mainly focused on his career with the band other than his solo music.

Just some days ago, Diamond Dave announced that he will retire after performing his last five shows. As he stated during a phone call with Las Vegas Review, he has no regrets about calling it quits after having a fantastic music career and will definitely miss being on stage.

Unlike Roth’s unexpected and abrupt announcement, KISS has been trying to retire for some time now. The band’s ongoing final concert tour named ‘End of the Road World Tour’ began on January 31, 2019, and is still on the go. Fans wouldn’t be surprised to see that their farewell tour isn’t really a goodbye since the band also planned a farewell tour in 2000.

However, this time, they are convinced that this is it for them since the aging factor is an undeniable obstacle for each member, mainly due to their heavy stage outfits and extravagant performances. After these two possible retirements shook the rock world, Tom Morello was asked to share his opinion.

Being a Van Halen fan himself, Morello said he can only thank the lead singer for his marvelous work with the band. Furthermore, now that Eddie Van Halen passed away and Roth is retiring, it’s certainly the end of the Van Halen era, if you ask the guitarist.

As for the KISS’ farewell tour, the Rage Against the Machine icon said that their tour has been happening for a while now, meaning years, which is why he has a feeling that it can carry on going a little longer than expected. It appears that much like everybody else, Morello doesn’t believe it’s the end of the road for the rock icons, though.

Regarding Diamon Dave’s retirement, Morello said:

“Yeah. I saw that. David brought so much intense joy and peak moments of rock and roll excellence since I was a kid. All I can say is ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m appreciative.’ We were so sad to lose Eddie Van Halen recently. And with Dave retiring, it’s certainly the end of an era. I have nothing to say but ‘thanks.'”

About KISS’ farewell tour, RATM guitarist stated:

“Yeah. They’re headed into the sunset. But the Kiss farewell tour has already been going on for a few years, so I have a feeling that one might go on for a while yet.”

It’s fair to say that Tom Morello spoke for everyone who is a fan of David Lee Roth and KISS. When Eddie Van Halen passed away, Van Halen fans still had some hopes for a reunion, but now that Roth decided to end his career, it seems like it is indeed the end of an era. On the other hand, KISS might stick around for a bit longer, and fans don’t seem to mind at all.