Eddie Van Halen Recovering After Hand Surgery

July 23, 2009 131 Comments

Here’s an exclusive from RollingStone.com:

Eddie Van Halen is said to be on the mend after undergoing surgery to treat increasing pain in his left hand.

“During the last leg of our tour, I started developing pain in my thumb and my pinky. I didn’t think much of it at the time,” the guitarist says. “It got progressively worse to the point that about three months ago I wasn’t able to play at all. My pinky and my thumb were totally locked up and felt like there was something broken.”

Van Halen sought out specialists in Düsseldorf, Germany, who initially began treating the guitarist for arthritis, but soon discovered a bone spur, twisted tendon and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb.

“They said the only way to fix it was surgery, which of course scared the shit out of me, but I was told it was the only way to fix it,” Van Halen says. “Surgery was a success, now I just have to let it heal. I am totally jazzed that they found the problem, fixed it and in about four months my hand will feel like I am 18 again. Thank God.”

Van Halen is said to be recovering nicely, having already regained his reach and full spread of his hand. He’s said to be taking his recovery slowly, however, to insure he heals properly. His rehabilitation should be complete in 4-6 months.

“In the meantime I am able to write a bit, but can not overexert my hand because it needs to heal properly,” the guitarist says.

His stitches come out in a few days, and he’s confident he’ll be able to play at maximum intensity when he completes his recovery.

Filed Under: Eddie Van Halen

chris omeara

No favors Don- Hahahahahahahaha…. The Eddie part of my last comment was meant in purely in good humor- Only the Sammy (Spammy) part was meant to be smart-ass and for that I offer no apology.

The “For Unlawful C.K.” was excellent in my opinion, but the rest of Sammy’s latter double-entendre lyrics with VH was lame (“Up For Breakfast?”- stupid stuff), as is some of the lead-in raps on the Chickenfoot LP.

He was great back in the day with “Rock Candy”, “Standing Hampton” LP and the “Heavy Metal” soundtrack title track.

The new stuff is pretentious, like when you still enjoy the style of a comic book artist, but have outgrown the juvenile writing that goes along with the genre. The dude’s 60 years old- Nobody wants to hear about his sexual exploits anymore…
Vanicionado

Rod… you know the Germans… they always make good stuff (that according to the Shamwow guy, anyhow.)
Frank

In an earlier VH post it was mentioned that Ed would visit the Netherlands AND Germany while on honeymoon, probably to get his hand fixed.
I’m sure a US surgeon could’ve treated Ed as well, but then his recovery would take longer.
Can you imagine the following headline: “EVH returns from his honeymoon, but has to visit the hospital first instead of the studio due to pain in his left thumb and pinky”.
I think a lot of the boys & girls at this forum would go ape.
At least now we know what’s going on.

Sterkte met je herstel en geniet van je verblijf in Nederland, Ed!

Frank, NL
http://none Ducky / Dirty Duck

Don…

I agree with everything you wrote except the comments about #1 albums with sammy…

Just becasue you have #1 albums doesnt mean you’re better musically.
I bet you $100 bucks that if dave stayed in the band another year after 1984 they would have had a #1.
Ballads / love songs sell.
Don

hey ducky…. i wont or cant argue w/ what you said about Dave, but would be cool is if they can produce another album like 1984, now that would be totally cool! also everybody knows dlr and his pompus and cocky attitude which in my own opinion i dont like but i guess thats just me. lol! but could you actually see dlr doing a ballad w/ vh? i cant, but then again thats just me i guess. another thing like sammy said quite a while back and i quote maybe if they would all get their heads out of their asses and come to their freaking sences they allcan work together? you guys tell me what y’all think
chris omeara

I hate to show my face again in this discussion, but the “ballad” (aka “power ballad”) is what tons of hair metal bands made their hits with ($$$), but it’s also what the 80′s bands were finally reduced to on MTV before grunge came along and the record execs flushed the hair metal bands down the toilet (where they belonged for being ballad playing sell-outs). That’s why most people’s dates hated “Fair Warning” but loved Firehouse’s “Finally Found The Love Of A Lifetime” echhh…

DLR-era VH (at least the 1st 4 albums) was “Big Rock” (according to DLR who coined the term), not poser music like “Every Rose Has it’s Thorn”, “Home Sweet Home” and all that other cr*p. They didn’t sell out to sell records (well maybe a couple of tunes on Diver Down). They rocked you while you drove in your car. Even “Me Wise Magic” was killer, so they can still do it if they want to… I hope they do.

A ballad here and there is o.k., but would you rather hear Heart sing “What About Love?”, or the entire Dreamboat Annie album? It seems like everything good leftover from the late ’70′s began to die when MTV began. Even Ted Nugent and Jefferson Starship had to sell out to survive. Look at Santana. If you disagree, I don’t care. The truth is still the truth.
http://vhnd emery

Hey! I want to talk to dirty duck!!!!!!! It`s 5150 time.Show me right. lololoolololol
rockenvelop

God Bless and get well soon.
Skutch

Omeara, I think you are dead on 100% correct. Great analysis. VH went from being a “big rock” to a “frat rock” band with the singer change. I remember seeing the Unlawful Carnage show and seeing more drunkard air guitar than I’ve seen since. I’m not here to argue endlessly which era is better, but the audience unquestionably and gradually shifted between the Roth/Sammy era. Funny you mention grunge because Kobain had a resentment toward his own audience, primarily frat boys rocking out to Nevermind.

The only reason 1984 wasn’t number 1 is because Thriller (amazing album) dominated the charts for over a year.
chris omeara

Vindication at last! Thanks Skutch! Take me back to the late seventies and leave me there… (well there has been SOME good music since then…)
RickieVanWhalen

GB69 – what are you smoking?
Brad

Ed writes right-handed according to his own words in the article but the first sentence in this article says his left hand was operated on “to treat increasing pain…” Lets get it straight OK. The right hand was operated on and the left hand which handles the notes on the fretboard is OK by Ed’s own admission. It is probably the lesser of two evils that the right hand was the problem since a 4-6 month rehab on the left might have somewhat affected the guitarist’s speed-riffing abilities even after recovery.
VHfanatic

11 years and counting, f*ck it Ed. Release the 2nd CD with Gary Cherone, I just want to hear some new Van Halen tunes.
Marvin

Brad, I think he means write music, not write words…
Line6Guy

Skutch,

Yeah I play a Wolfgang & a Lone Star Strat (USA made) through a Line 6 Bogner Spider Valve (tube) head and 4X12 cabinet. I get a killer sound out of it too! Got a problem with it kid? Tough shit!
JUANE5150

MEJORATE LUEGO EDDIE…. SUERTE
ESPERO QUE TODO SALGA BIEN EN TU RECUPERACION Y PODAMOS VER UN NUEVO CD DE VAN HALEN CON WOLFGANG.

JUANE
CHILE
Karl

Brad, Ed just says he can write. Doesn’t say with which hand.

“to treat increasing pain in his left hand.”

“and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb”

“having already regained his reach and full spread of his hand”

I think it’s probably it’s probably a safe bet that it’s his left hand that got treated.
Marvin

Karl and Brad, You guys crack me up! He’s talking about writing music, not writing a letter with a pencil in his hand.
RickieVanWhalen

Wow – lot’s a pot being smoked here. For the record, Ed plays the fretboard with his left hand. The same hand that was operated on.

Pass it over here dude.
Duke Truccio

This is my fist time posting to this site, but my blood is boiling. I’ll try not to cuss even though many of you morons deserve it. Quit being a jago tool and don’t tell us that Eddie doesn’t owe the fans, he’s screwed us so many times. Just a few examples: using Dave to tease us into buying the greatest hits, talking like an idiot in every interview, not playing old songs while Sammy was in the band, not releasing Roth-era concerts on video, putting out the horrible VH3 album, kicking MA out of the band, putting on a lame show during the 2004 tour, slinging a ripoff 2nd greatest hits, not showing for the R&R HOF ceremony, standing still during the 2007 tour, and last but most, refusing to release any of the leftover songs from album sessions(w/DLR) or the Warner Bros demos. There are enough fully recorded unreleased quality songs with Dave for 2 albums and those of us that have heard them know how magical they are. Eddie was/is a childish selfish a’hole and hopefully he will at least be financially motivated to put out some new material with Roth. Having said that, I’ll ask this question: would you rather have VH be like AC/DC and regularly put out albums that are ok, or would you prefer to wait a dozen years and have a kickbutt album? I do believe we will hear some new stuff from Ed&Dave but I’m worried that Ed will be too manipulative in the mixing room. The worst thing about the VH3 record was not the songs, but it sounded too straight ahead like an emo rock album and/or polished like a DefLep album. For those of you who have forgotten go crank Diver Down; yeah the song selection was patchwork but the engineering and mixing and atomspere was the best of ANY vh album.

As long as I’m weighing in here – I’ve seen over 300 concerts in my life and the VH w/Gary Cherone concert I saw was one of the best. So lay off Gary, the horrible album was Ed’s fault not his. Also I’ve never seen anyone comment about the fact that on the greatest hits album, Michael Anthony’s name was taken off the credits for the songs from the 1984 album. For you Eddie defenders that defines pettiness. I remember reading a Jeff Berlin interview around 1985 where he told how Eddie had him in the studio working on the songs during the 1984 sessions, and now we hear how Eddie tried to get Billy Sheehan into the band several times. I guess Eddie didn’t have a spare million to hire Robert Trujillo like Metallica did, let’s face it the only reason he put Wolfie in the band was because he was free!

So here’s to hoping for Ed’s recovery, continued health, maturity, and brotherly relationship with Dave, while we are patiently waiting for new material. In the meantime let us rag on Ed you nittie witties because he wholeheartedly deserves it.
chris omeara

Hi Duke. If you want that “old-school” VH engineered sound, you’ll have to get Donn Landee back in the control room. But Ed had a “falling out” with him too, so it’s doubtless the albums will go back to sounding how they were in the old days.

An interviewer in Guitar World or Guitar player quizzed Ed years ago on why the departure from the old style mix where the main lead guitar was in a certain space in the stereo field up against the rhythm and Ed told him basically that was Donn’s system, Donn was too controlling about his job, he was gone now, and that Ed thought the new sound (He called it “Jape”, I call it the “million-dollar GK amp sound”- co) sounded better.

So although I agree with your gripes, I would have to add that to the list also (although the processed guitar sounded COOL with the Steinberger TransTrem on “Me Wise Magic”). I agree Ed was in rare form on all the live Cherone years footage I’ve seen and heard.
chris omeara

I meant to say “doubtful”, not doubtless. My bad…
Karl

Marvin, try reading my comment again but imagine me writing it with my tongue firmly in my cheek. And while you’re at it take a little peek between the lines…
EBMusicMan

Duke Truccio,

BRAVO Man!! I couldn’t agree more with everything you said. I would love to hear some of those unreleased songs that Ed did with Dave during the Me Wise Magic sessions too!
Shayne

well just when I thought I heard it all out so called VH fans…

Is it not enough that the never thought would happen reunion betwwwen Dave and Ed happened???

Or that at thier respective ages they put out a tour full of kick ass VH classics?

Or that Ed’s playing was simply masterfull?

Or that Dave’s vocals were far better than anyone expected?
(I thought them to be awesome)
Or that Dave still has some “JUMP” in his stage show?

Or that Wolfie actually pulled it off as a credible band mate?

Or that Alex can beat those skins like it was still 1984?

Or that we di not have to listen to Sammy era bubble gum VH tunes?( don’t get me wrong I like Sammy and like some stuff he did with VH but it just didn’t feel or sound like VH to me)
Or just the promise and hope to hear a new VH album and follow up tour with the dyanamic duo of Rock?

If you all still feel that Ed OWES us something maybe your so called support would be suited better being a Spice girls fan or maybe even president of the Milli Vanilli fan club.

Ed has already given us so much,and I for one can appreciate and be satisfied with that,anything more is a bonus!!!

All the best to the real fans and to VH.

Shayne
Duke Truccio

There are some of you who are challenged in being able to distinguish between a ‘VH’ fan and an ‘EVH’ fan, so from one ‘real’ fan to another let me help you out and give you a free ticket to the clue-bus. It’s possible to like the artist but not the person. Sure sometimes it’s important to know the background behind what made the artist the way they are, but the two are not necessarily the same. U2, Rage Against the Machine, and Pearl Jam are great bands and I own most of their albums and I’ll dole out my cash to see them in concert rather than pay my phone bill, but their politics stink. Michael Jackson was an amazing talent but he was a freakazoid. VH is the greatest rock band ever but Eddie is a knucklehead. Got it?

Hey, there are plenty of things I agree with you ‘real’ fans with. I liked all 3 versions of VH but the original Diamond Dave version is by far the best. Very little music makes my nuts tingle like the first 6 VH albums. Yes, it was inspiring to see VH kick-butt on the reunion tour. Other than Rush and Maiden most veteran bands can’t pull it off in arenas. (Have you ever seen how bad the Stones suck live? And I’m sorry to say the Police reunion was a ripoff.) DLR tore it up and looked amazing; his vocals weren’t the greatest but definitely much better than expected; it was sweet to not just hear the hits but also deep cuts like ‘Romeo Delight’ and ‘I’ll Wait’; Wolfie was admirable for a kid his age and under huge pressure; and Alex has always been the most underrated drummer in hard rock. Kudos to them also for not overusing stage props and lighting, it was just right. I raise a toast to DLR & EVH in being able to put aside their past animosities and move forward, because I know how hard it can be. Let me tell you as someone who played in bands and toured the club circuit in the late 80′s/early 90′s, to this day 20 years later there are former band-mates of mine that if I saw them walking down the street I would jump out of my car and punch them in the face (and I’m not a violent person). Because when you love music and play in a band, you put more emotional capital into it than you ever do in a relationship.

But can someone besides me please grow a pair and admit that as unexpected as the reunion tour was, it came up short on being magical. Could it have been? Sure, maybe if Michael Anthony was there; maybe if Eddie hadn’t stood still; maybe if Eddie could stop kissing Wolfie; maybe if Wolfie could have looked like he did on the aborted Rolling Stones cover instead of one of the back-up dancers in Weird Al Yankovic’s video spoof of MJ’s ‘Bad’ (I’m not ripping on poor Wolfie, it’s Eddie’s fault for sticking him out there). NO Eddie’s playing was NOT masterful (either you have never played guitar or you hit the maddog hard). Yeah it was better than his drunken attempt on the last Hagar tour, but not as good as most tours he’s done. The best he ever played was on the Cherone tour and I’ve seen VH fourteen times (but I guess that’s not enough to make me a ‘real’ fan).

For some reason there is a deliberate attempt on the part of some of you dimbos to misconstrue what some of us are voicing, so, “Let me hit you with some knowledge.” It’s not that Eddie owes us anything more, it’s that if he does manage to put out an album or tour, he owes us to make it as good as it can be. Heck he owes himself that. I call him a knucklehead because in that sense he’s screwed himself as much as he’s screwed the fans. We are ‘real fans’ because we’ll bend over and shell out our hard earned bucks no matter what. Hey, if he wants to put out shit like VH3 then at least call it Eddie’s Puppet Show instead of slapping the VH label on it. Let me put you straight, if you don’t think it’s ridiculous that someone has to pay $500 for a CD quality black market copy of the Warner Bros demo tapes just because Ed is selfish, well then you are not a ‘real’ fan, you are a starfucker.

So …. you’re telling us that it would be ok with you if the new album with Roth was something along the same lines as VH3? That the album we’ve waited 25 years for has to be acceptable to ‘real’ fans even if it was written by Ed and Glen Ballard over the phone? Maybe you wouldn’t talk like a douche-bag if you saw my collection of VH posters, patches, tour-books, calendars, stickers, hats, t-shirts, buttons, pins, banners, necklaces, picture-discs, 180gram vinyl lps, mugs, japanese b-sides, bootleg concert albums and videos, magazines, not to mention 5150 amp and Wolfgang guitar (I could go on and on.) I don’t have it gathering dust in a display case, I put it up and put it on and USED it. I was one of those kids who actually wore a VH t-shirt in high school and if you tried to tell me Randy Rhoads was a better guitar player you were given a wedgie or got taped to the wall. Of course I put all that stuff in a box now that I’m 40, jeez I’m married with kids not like the guys in ‘Stepbrothers’.

I want Eddie’s hand to heal and be better than ever; for him to be happy with Janie and be sober and cancer free; for Wolfie to be as good as Mike; for him to make money on sneakers; to make music for pornos; I want him to do whatever makes him happy and releases his creative juices as an artist; but most of all I want for him and Dave to take their time and make a great album.

So if you want to be an ass-clown and tell me I’m not a real fan then I’m just gonna tell you that you have a crack pipe in one hand and Eddie’s cock in the other and you should drop them both and go put on VH3 and have another listen.

Peace out.
Shayne

News Flash on MSNBC this morning…..

Duke Truccio was the sole nominee for Milli Vanilli’s fan club president.

Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which gets filled first!

It is what it is and will be what it will be, hope for the best but accept what comes.(you don’t have to like it and will probably never live up to YOUR expectations)

As a guitar player myself and having played in a band throughout my late teens and early twenties my fave player has always been Angus Young but aside from my collection of albums from all the great Rock players I am not one to buy a sig series guitar just because he put one out (however I do own a Gibson SG standard)or to have cheap merch hangin on my walls around my neck or in a box to prove how much of a fan I am.Although fun to play covers I spend my time making my own music and I don’t need to have copycat gear to do it.

Your comment about cock in one hand and and a crack pipe in the other is something you must have experience with as in all my years that thought has never popped into my head.WTF was that all about.

PS never bought VH3 or any other post DLR albums save the Best of album just to have the 2 new DLR songs on it.So while you have that cock in one hand here is something for you to put in your pipe & smoke in the other.

A real fan supports accepts and does not whine and cry about what he thinks EVH should be ,should have done,should do and should act like ,should play,should play with.
He is fucking EVH and he should do what EVH wants to, as we all SHOULD.

With all that said you seem to be very sincere with your opinions but really dude, take a reality check and accept it for what it is and will be, if not maybe Milli would like some advice from you but I don’t think a real VH,EVH fan or Eddie himself give two shits about your opinions,or mine!

All in good fun Duke!

Shayne
Shayne

One last thought… are we fans of the music and their talents or fans of them as a person?

How can we be? we don’t know them pesonally.

So to judge them is unfair and you are just waisting your time and energy.
Duke Truccio

You Eddie apologists always disappoint.

You’d think that after getting embarrassingly bitch-slapped twice now that you’d offer up better posts than the lame comments you did. (Oh, I get it. You secretly agree with me and are pretending to be an Eddie apologist and make a fool of yourself to get a rise out of me. Ok, I’ll play along. All in good fun like you said. Eddie apologists are all phonies anyway.)

You guys are like the morons that voted for Obama and now that he’s systematically wrecking the country you say we have to continue to support him. You Eddie apologists can never bring yourselves to address the questions we put forth. Again: if the next album is more like VH3 than VH1-6 will that be ok with you? If you are a ‘real’ fan then why did you buy only buy the first 6 albums? In the future please do something other than contradict yourselves and make lame posts. I’m all up for a real debate.

As far as your comments that Eddie doesn’t care what people say about him, you’re wrong about that. Eddie may be several cards short of a full deck, but he’s well aware that many fans are fed-up with him. He’s world-classed pissed that VH3 sold badly. Eddie only got back with Roth to make money and because the fans wouldn’t accept anything less. Right now Eddie is torn. On one hand he wants to continue being vindictive towards the fans by not putting out music with Roth or music from the vaults. On the other hand he wants to put out a new album. Let’s all hope he doesn’t force Roth into another VH3.
Shayne

And your insights are from personal conversations with evh?

Do you also read palms?

Just keep reading your Hit Parade mags and making up your own shit!

Wow are you ever full of it.

I geuss you have theory on why he gort divorced too>

But please spare us all.

By the way, I have always been a fan of EVH and VH as I said I do not need to buy an album I don’t care for, as a real fan thats all we can do…unlike you, who apparently talks to Ed (you must with all your insight)to tell him “Ed ,dude this Sammy guy is OK but the writing you had to do for him is weak,what is with all these songs with “love” in the title about? What happened to the ROCK in VH did it leave with Dave?

I geuss it’s back to your mouth pieces in each hand.

And remember there is a diff between a true rocker who can appreciate an artist and be a a real fan and some flakey finatic who thinks they are the foremost authourity on everything VH.

And by the way I think we are all safe that the new VH album will not be a repeat of VH3,a small thing called chemistry between DLR and EVH will prevent that.
Master James

Are you guys listening to yourselves?
Ok, i’m a lifelong fan of Eddie Van Halen. But i’m not going around bitching and moaning about when the next album is coming or how or what’s been going on with surgery, divorces, smoking and all the other crap i’ve skimmed across. The main point here is this guy turned heads and created millions upon millions of followers and fans. So who cares what he’s doing next, HE’S ALREADY DONE IT back in like 1980. You don’t have to be a fan to be waiting for the next album to buy or the gossip that’s coming out next, if you were a true fan, you’d be listening to the music already out, over and over again, maybe actually enjoying it?? Have you even tried to bother picking up a guitar and playing some of his stuff? You may learn some new skills instead of bitching about how he’s picking the guitar differently (?!?) and if he smiled to the crowd at his last concert, his personal life and all that rubbish. Seriously. Just learn something. He had surgery. Wow, it’s news. It’s already happened. Move on.