Following the tour in support of 1984, Diamond Dave decided to leave Van Halen to pursue his own musical interests. As we all know, he was replaced by Sammy Hagar, a veteran rocker who had previously fronted Montrose before establishing himself as a solo artist in his own right. In 1996, this process was repeated, as the band split with Hagar acrimoniously and eventually replaced him with former Extreme front man Gary Cherone.
Inspired by Andrew T's Don Henley TL (go and check it out!) in which a series of small adjustments leads to former Boston lead vocalist Brad Delp ending up as Roth's successor behind the microphone, I'm curious to see who else could have been selected as the Van Halen's new singer either in 1984 or 1996 and what the consequences might have been.
For example, individuals approached after Sammy Hagar's departure included session man and producer Mitch Malloy (who cut a few demos with the group) and the British rock singer Toby Jepson, who had fronted the pop-metal group Little Angels.