In a new interview with The New York Times, David Lee Roth talks about his COVID-themed drawings, the pandemic, and of course, Van Halen. An excerpt follows:

The New York Times: You were on tour when the lockdown began. As a lifelong performer, was it difficult being forced to leave the road so hastily?

David Lee Roth: "Every Jiu-Jitsu magazine has a 28-year-old who’s going to tell you about the two years that got taken away by his elbow. Every kickboxing magazine has a 32-year-old instructor who goes, “Well, I lost those three years to my left knee.” So I’ve just been isolating away. Because I myself am high risk."

The New York Times: Why do you consider yourself high risk?

Roth: "The road will deteriorate you from the beginning or it will keep you alive forever. When we go out, we wear ourselves to a nubbin. I just had a lower back surgery. It was a spinal fusion where they take a chip from somebody else. I’m actually taller now. Do I seem taller? I mean, over the phone?"

The New York Times: You last toured with Van Halen in 2015. Do you think it’ll ever happen again?

"I don’t know that Eddie [Van Halen] is ever really going to rally for the rigors of the road again. [The guitarist first announced he had cancer in 2001, and it has recurred since.] I don’t even want to say I’ve waited - I’ve supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual - you can’t take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He’s a band mate. We had a colleague down. And he’s down now for enough time that I don’t know that he’s going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You’re talking to him."

Read the complete interview at The New York Times.