David Lee Roth has released a new song dedicated to Eddie Van Halen.

"Hey Ed I'm gonna miss ya," reads the text on the illustration attached to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill" on YouTube. "See you on the other side."

The upbeat, largely acoustic track features a sweet, sentimental lyric that briefly nods to both The Wizard of Oz's "Over the Rainbow" and Elton John's "Crocodile Rock."

The song appears to date back to an unreleased album Roth recorded with John 5 early last decade. According to Blabbermouth, in a 2014 interview the guitarist described the LP as "11 of the greatest songs you'll ever hear, and it's just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it's unbelievable," he said. "There's a song called 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill.' And you know, just great, great songs."

Van Halen died on Oct. 6 after what his son Wolfgang described as a "long and arduous" battle with cancer. Roth was one of many from the rock world to pay their respects, posting a picture of himself and his longtime Van Halen bandmate with the caption "what a long great trip it's been."

Roth, Michael Anthony, Van Halen and his brother Alex formed Van Halen in 1974. After years of honing their live show and songwriting by playing clubs and backyard parties, they exploded onto the world stage with their 1978 debut album, on which Eddie forever revolutionized the way rock guitar was played.

Six years and five more highly successful albums later, Roth left the band over creative differences. In 2007 he returned to a lineup that now featured Wolfgang as bassist. The group embarked on three more tours and released a final studio album, 2012's A Different Kind of Truth, before Van Halen's death.

 

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