"Because sometimes to birth an American Icon... the motherland is not always American soil." We've heard a lot of unique ways to describe Edward Van Halen's impact on guitar players over the years, and this Facebook post by Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, written while in Indonesia, has quickly become one of our favorites. Enjoy. THE MOTHERLAND What is a true American … [Read more...]
Archives for 2019
When Eddie Van Halen Appeared on ‘Cafe Americain’ with Valerie Bertinelli
On this day in 1993, Eddie Van Halen made a cameo appearance on "Cafe Americain," the NBC sitcom starring his then-wife, Valerie Bertinelli. Portraying a scruffy Paris street musician, Van Halen arrives in the show's opening scene. Bertinelli enjoyed the opportunity to trade sitcom barbs with her then-husband of 12 years, a native of Amsterdam who forsakes English for their … [Read more...]
RIP Bart Walsh, Former David Lee Roth & Atomic Punks Guitarist
We are quite sad to hear that the original Atomic Punks guitarist, Bart Walsh, died Saturday, at the age of 56. According to Walsh's family, the cause of his death was gastrointestinal bleed and dehydration. David Lee Roth recruited Walsh, straight out of the Atomic Punks, to be his lead guitar player in 1999. The Atomic Punks declared on Facebook, … [Read more...]
20 Years Ago: Gary Cherone Leaves Van Halen
The Toughest Job In Rock If anyone ever had it, Gary Cherone sure as hell did - and he handled it with style On November 5th, 1999, Gary Cherone officially parted ways with Van Halen. You could almost picture him, back on familiar Boston turf, breathing a long-overdue sigh of relief. At least that’s what we hope he was doing. After all, nearly three years of constant … [Read more...]
Best Van Halen Halloween Costumes of 2019
Here are our favorite Van Halen Halloween costumes we've seen this year. Enjoy, and start thinking about your costume(s) for us to feature on VHND next year! All photos below are Instagram … [Read more...]
Fair Warning to Tool Fans
As you probably heard, last week Ed and Wolf attended the Tool concert in L.A., and Wolf thought it was funny when a guy approached Ed to ask if he would take a picture of himself with the stage behind him, not knowing he was asking the legendary Eddie Van Halen. He blew his chance with a selfie with EVH! Well, Van Halen Rising author, Greg Renoff, doesn't take this incident … [Read more...]
Van Halen Halloween, 1980
Happy Halloween, all! Here are some fun backstage photos of Van Halen dressed in Halloween costumes at the Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, from October 31st, 1980. Classic! Also, our exclusive photos of Van Halen performing on stage that night—still in costume! Did you know that you can get the much sought after “1980 INVASION” Van … [Read more...]
35 Years Ago: Van Halen Release ‘Hot For Teacher,’ Then Everything Goes To Hell
For the 35th anniversary of the release of "Hot For Teacher" today, we're featuring Van Halen Rising author Greg Renoff's new piece for Ultimate Classic Rock: In the fall of 1984, Van Halen dominated rock 'n' roll. Their latest album, 1984, had sold a jaw-dropping 4 million copies in less than a year. The album’s debut single, the … [Read more...]
Family Fun
Wolf shared some fun family pics on Instagram yesterday... https://www.instagram.com/p/B4BZ5UKF7LM/ … [Read more...]
Watch the Kick-Ass Video Trailer for Van Halen’s Vinyl Boxed Set!
Warner Records has released a totally awesome video trailer for the new Van Halen vinyl box set comprised of singles the band released in Japan between 1978 and 1984. Watch it above. 'The Japanese Singles 1978-1984' will be made up of thirteen 7” vinyls, complete with replicas of the original sleeve artwork. The release date is Nov. 1, 2019. Order … [Read more...]
That Moment a Fan of Another Band Asks You to Take a Picture of Him, Not Knowing You’re Eddie Van Halen
Stranger things have happened, but… During last night’s Tool concert in Los Angeles, a die-hard Tool fan asked a fellow concert goer to snap a pic of him with the stage in the background, not realizing he was asking none other than Eddie Van Halen! Wolfgang, who attended the concert with his legendary dad, captured the moment perfectly on his Instagram. View this … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Encounter
Eddie Van Halen made someone's day yesterday, at a McLaren dealership in Beverly Hills... Susan Dion writes, "I've had a bad week, so please indulge me in this gushing post. "I love my job. I love the cars, I love my co-workers and I love the clients.Admittedly, I've had more than my share of cool things that I've done in my life. "Co-worker: "Sue, today you got to … [Read more...]