ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons said seeing Van Halen perform for the first time lived up to all of the hype and then some.
Gibbons was a guest on Eddie Trunk’s SiriusXM show Trunk Nation recently. At one point in the interview the conversation steered towards Eddie Van Halen. Gibbons said he had heard all about Eddie’s talents, even had Van Halen’s 1978 debut album, but didn’t get a chance to see the band until years later. It was worth the wait, according to Gibbons.
“They had already picked up steam, and fortunately, I was able to go out and catch a live show,” said Gibbons. “That blew my mind. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, these guys have got it going on.'”
It also turned out that Gibbons didn’t live far from Eddie. Eventually the two struck up a friendship, which started with their love of Mexican food.
“I knew him well from the very first record, and he was actually, as it came to pass, I discovered that he was a neighbor, very close to the house back in Los Angeles,” said Gibbons. “He and I got together because we both discovered we had a passion for Mexican food. And after his passing, there’s not a day that goes by when I can dip into a bowl of hot sauce, and it’s kind of a revisit of fond recollections of being able to hang out together. It’s something else.”
You can hear the entire Gibbons interview via Trunk’s podcast below:
Gibbons is currently promoting his latest solo album Hardware featuring Matt Sorum (The Cult, Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) on drums.
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