Van Halen Nation is strong. Just ask David Crosby, who apologized after receiving backlash over a comment he made last week regarding Eddie Van Halen’s death.
On Saturday, the “Crosby Stills & Nash” co-founder was asked on Twitter what he thought about the passing of Eddie. Crosby came off as insensitive when he responded simply, “Meh…”
Meh …. https://t.co/rncBUS0tnw
— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) October 10, 2020
Van Halen fans and fellow rockers vehemently reacted soon after Crosby’s tweet went viral. Here’s a response from Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick:
I appreciate @thedavidcrosby too much for this to get in the way, but a much better answer would have been: “I know he meant a lot to so many but his sound & style just weren’t my thing.” Patti Smith doesn’t seem like she’s ever been much of a VH fan either, still she posted this pic.twitter.com/GqKO4S5v4R
— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) October 11, 2020
…and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns:
Wrong answer as fuck and rude as fuck!!! There are better ways to say you don’t care for someone’s music. That was very disrespectful. And yes straight out fuck you and your smug answer.
— Tracii Luk Guns ? ???? (@TraciiGuns) October 11, 2020
And then Crosby clarified what he meant by “Meh,” which only made it worse:
On Tuesday Crosby returned to Twitter only this time to apologize for his comment while adding that he actually had forgotten the fact that Eddie had just passed away.
yes you Van Halen fans I did just toss off an answer that was not cool …the even more embarrassing truth is ..I didn’t even remember he had just died or I would have kept my mouth shut….I do make mistakes …no offense intended
— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) October 13, 2020
Crosby’s apology seemed to go over well. Here are some of the tweets that followed:
I was going to jump on here and send you a message about being respectful of those artists who pass away. But this tweet is pitch perfect. We do all make mistakes and we need more forgiveness in this world. I loved Van Halen. I also love your music. Thanks for the update!
— Patrick Johnson (@daddywrites) October 13, 2020
Good move, David. Thanks for this tweet. https://t.co/qGTTRc9nrS
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) October 13, 2020
Your compassionate and caring. Beautiful. We need to see this especially these days. Thank you ??
— Marla (@marlaZavada) October 14, 2020
Now it’s time to forgive and forget David Crosby’s comments and get back to honoring and remembering the greatness of Eddie Van Halen.