One of the most memorable moments of weekend one of Coachella 2026 involved David Lee Roth and Teddy Swims.
After bringing out a slew of special guests during his action-packed set, Swims ended with a guest appearance by Roth. The pair performed the Van Halen classic “Jump” together, with Roth sporting a leather vast and tight trousers.
Following the instantly iconic moment, Roth reflected on his guest appearance in a backstage interview with Rolling Stone.
Roth revealed that he met Swims at a rehearsal space called Third Encore in California, where many Coachella acts prepare for their performances.
“Three of Teddy’s fellas came over from his crew: ‘Hey, can we stick our head in? We heard some songs,’ Roth said. “I said, ‘Certainly. Come on in.’ Two days later, they brought 36 of his crew over. Teddy got FOMO.
“He’s a longtime fan [of mine]. And he asked, as soon as he found out that I was in there, can he come over and watch the rehearsal?
“We got along like pirates. We had a few drinks well into the night. And our voices are very much the same. We have a cantankerous sense of humor. We come from a working-class background in music. A lot of places where there’s sawdust on the floor. Today, there’s a generation who does not know what that is. Teddy knows what that is.”
Roth continued: “He came over and there’s a history. He knows every word of my classic Van Halen songbook. As a vocalist, every word I sing in the Van Halen songbook, I wrote. I wrote every word. I wrote every line, every melody, every harmony stack, organized everything that the vocals do. For better or worse, if you’re singing it — Roth was bringing it.
Elsewhere in the interview, Roth called Coachella “freestyle, sexy, art-centric,” adding that he usually plays “shows where a lot of my colleagues and contemporaries look virtually identical – obligatory amp line, hair extensions, devil horns. Nobody smiles. The Rolling Stones started that one.”
