David Lee Roth has changed his name.
The former Van Halen frontman now wants to be called "David L. Roth" or "El Roth."
The change was inspired by the current movement in the music industry to disown words having to do with the slavery that existed in the South _ which comes in response to the Black Lives Matter protests that rose up after the death of George Floyd.
Roth made the announcement via social media, posting a piece of artwork he'd created, showing a giant frog by a tiny human, with the following text about the name change:
"David 'Lee' Roth changes name! Diamond Dave, following Lady Antebellum's (now 'Lady A') example, will be dropping the 'Lee' from now on. He wants us all to call him 'David L. Roth' or simply 'El Roth.'"
And he ends the message, for some reason, with: "Bannana (sic) fana-fo-fana."
"El Roth" did not go into details as to why he'd decided to strike the "Lee" from his name. But some have hypothesized that it might be because of its linkage to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Many are assuming it's meant to be a joke.
Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A on June 11, with Roth making the announcement that he was dropping the "Lee" earlier this week.
On Thursday, the Dixie Chicks announced that they were changing their name to the Chicks.
