Credit: Neil Zlozower It's not often an opening act leaves a bigger impression with fans than the headliner they came to see but that's just what happened back in 1978 when Van Halen opened for Black Sabbath. Their outshining of Sabbath recently put them on the list of greatest show openers. Here's an excerpt from Greg Prato's recent article for Ultimate-Guitar titled … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen News
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Honored To Have Known Eddie Van Halen
Getting chosen to go out on a tour with Van Halen is quite the honor. For Kenny Wayne Shepherd, he can say he was honored twice over. Shepherd, who supported Van Halen on two different tours - one in 1998 (with Gary Cherone) and again in 2015 (with David Lee Roth), talked about those experiences as a guest on the My Weekly Mixtape podcast. "We did the final Van Halen tour … [Read more...]
Restored Edward Van Halen Miura Unveiled!
Credit: YouTube by VHND Contributing Writer Jeff Goebel Over the last four years, I have been chasing the story of not just Edward Van Halen’s famous Red Lamborghini Miura’s Restoration but also the location of his former 1985 Black Lamborghini Countach. Edward’s love for fast cars was legendary and owned a vast collection of them. But what makes his … [Read more...]
Satriani: You Can Wear Eddie’s Shoes, But Can’t Fill ‘Em
Joe Satriani says he doesn't expect to fill Eddie Van Halen's shoes since that is simply impossible. "You can't fill them," Satriani recently told Forbes' Steve Baltin. "You can put them on, but you can't fill them." Satriani will be tasked with performing several of Eddie's classic riffs during the upcoming Best Of All Worlds Tour with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, and … [Read more...]
Sammy Hagar Announces ‘Best Of All Worlds’ Tour With Joe Satriani
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer SAMMY HAGAR is embarking on the long-awaited “THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS” 2024 tour. Hagar will be joined by rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates MICHAEL ANTHONY (bass, backing vocals), JASON BONHAM (drums) and revealed on Nov 14 on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show that JOE SATRIANI, one of the best guitar players in the world, will complete the … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen’s Guitar Gifted To Jason Becker For Auction
Photo courtesy of Jason Becker The upcoming auction of the Edward Van Halen owned Wolfgang model serial numbered 91000069 given to Jason Becker in August of 1996 presented by Guernsey's Auction House 11/12/23 -- An amazing meeting took place on August 31, 1996. That’s when Eddie Van Halen spent the day with a guy who had followed in his footsteps playing alongside … [Read more...]
The Origins Of Billy Sheehan’s Two-Handed Tapping
Watching Billy Sheehan two-hand tapping on his bass, it's hard to not think of Eddie Van Halen. It was a different guitarist, however, who inspired Sheehan to adopt this technique. Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs) talked about the origins of his two-handed tapping during a recent interview with Matt Pinfield. Below is an excerpt from an Ultimate-Guitar … [Read more...]
Hawkins Recalls Van Halen Set At Wembley With Wolfgang
Justin Hawkins says he and Wolfgang Van Halen had very little time to prepare their mini-Van Halen set before 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London last year during the Taylor Hawkins tribute. Just one run-through and go. Here's an excerpt from an article posted to Ultimate-Guitar by Greg Prato: Of the many performances at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts at … [Read more...]
McDonald’s Releases Christmas Ad Featuring Van Halen’s ‘Jump’
Nothin' like a Big Mac with an extra large order of Van Halen! McDonald's latest Christmas ad titled 'Fancy A McDonald's' features the Van Halen song that's as familiar as the McDonald's arches - "Jump". It features various scenarios including parents at a nativity play, friends at a work Christmas party, and even Santa Claus himself, with people coming together to head to … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Wanted A Guitar Lesson From Glen Campbell
Credit: Darren Balch According to Alice Cooper, Eddie Van Halen wanted a guitar lesson from Glenn Campbell and it almost happened thanks to a round of golf. Cooper told the story during a recent appearance on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker": "One time Eddie Van Halen called me up and said, 'Hey, I wanna come to Arizona and play golf,'" said Cooper. "And … [Read more...]
Triumph’s Rik Emmett: US Festival Wasn’t Van Halen’s Best Moment
Credit: Neil Zlozower Triumph singer/guitarist Rik Emmett says Van Halen may have started the party too early on the day of the 1983 US Festival. During a recent interview with Ultimate-Guitar's Greg Prato, Emmett commented on Triumph's appearance at the US Festival's "Heavy Metal Day" on May 29, 1983, which saw performances from Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy … [Read more...]
Paul Gilbert: ‘Van Halen II’ Was Life-Changing
Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert says Van Halen II is among the ten albums that changed his life. Here's what Gilbert had to say about Van Halen's classic sophomore effort from 1979 during a recent interview with ClassicRockHistory.com's Andrew Daly: All the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen records were monuments of excellence to me. But Van Halen II hit me at just the right … [Read more...]