Van Halen Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide

Rock 'n' roll never dies, but as any fan can tell you, band lineups are a lot less permanent -- and for groups that have been together for decades, such as Van Halen, the personnel shifts can be hard to keep track of. With that in mind, we've decided to take a band-by-band look at the ins and outs of some of our favorite acts' rosters, pausing to sample the music along the way.

Comparatively speaking, Van Halen have had fewer lineup changes than most bands in their peer group. While they've certainly seen their share of turnover at the lead singer position, where they went through David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone between 1985-99, the rest of the band has been fairly stable over the long run.

Will we ever hear another new record from Van Halen? We couldn't even begin to guess. If history has shown us anything with these guys, it's that nothing is certain, and no outcome is too strange to contemplate.

Still, even with Alex and Eddie Van Halen sticking around over the long haul, there have been a number of comings and goings over the years, and we've chronicled all the major ones (in addition to a couple that casual fans may not remember) -- as well as looked at Hagar's two post-Van Halen bands, Chickenfoot and the Circle -- in our latest Lineup Changes post. Toss out all your brown M&M's -- here we go!