AC/DC’s Angus Young will always remember Eddie Van Halen as a man full of fire on stage, full of warmth off.
“He was just all charm – full of warmth, happy to see me,” Young recalled during a recent interview on the Talk is Jericho podcast. “At first, I was a bit shocked. I got this guy, he’s talking like, ‘You crazy motherfucker!’, he’s hugging me… He was always funny, and the last time he came when we were in L.A. – when we came out to do the [2008’s] Black Ice tour – he actually came down to the show. There he was, the same as ever – a big hug and a big smile. As a person, he was just warm and he was funny.”
Eddie first saw AC/DC play live on July 23rd, 1978 when the two bands opened for Aerosmith at the Day On The Green festival in Oakland, California. He later said, “I was standing on the side of the stage, going, ‘We have to follow these motherfuckers?’ They were so fucking powerful.”
Two years later Young would find out first-hand – or ear – how much of a fan of his Eddie was. He told host Chris Jericho of the time in 1980 when he received a late-night call from Eddie.
“I was tired, went to sleep, so my wife picked up the phone,” Young recalled, “and she’s talking on the phone so I’m thinking, ‘Must be somebody from home…’ But it was Eddie. She passed the phone to me [and] she says, ‘Eddie is on the phone.’ ‘Eddie the fuck who?!’ [Laughs] And he’s on the phone, going, ‘Hey man, you’re a really bad motherfucker!’ ‘Yeah, but it’s two in the morning…”
Eddie and Young finally met face-to-face when their bands were booked to play the Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington Park in 1984, with Van Halen appearing as special guests to headliners AC/DC.
Van Halen & AC/DC Interviews From Monsters Of Rock Festival (1984):
While Eddie was a big fan of Young’s talents, Young felt the same. After Eddie’s October 6th passing Young referring to his friend as “a guitar wonder”, adding that his playing was “pure wizardry”.
AC/DC recently released a brand new album titled ‘Power Up’ featuring the single “Shot In The Dark”.