Former Prince drummer Michael Bland recalled the time Eddie Van Halen and Prince briefly met up and shared some laughs at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.
During Bland’s recent appearance on Podcast on Prince, the topic of Van Halen came up, which sparked his memory of Eddie and Prince.
“I met Sammy [Hagar] when we played the MTV Video Music Awards in ’91,” Bland said. “One of my favorite moments working with Prince was watching Eddie Van Halen and Prince have a conversation. It was only a couple of minutes. We’d finished our sound check and we’d hung around for [Van Halen’s]. Prince was kinda talking to Dick Clark or somebody, and Sammy and Eddie came walking around. And they both greeted Prince, and Sammy kept walking, but Eddie stayed.
“[They were] laughing a lot,” continued Bland. “Prince had this kinda outfit; it’s an outfit he’s been photographed in. It’s like a white pinstriped one-piece that was kinda like a vest on the top. Eddie said something and he started smiling, and he went to touch Prince’s lapel, like, ‘I like that; it’s real sharp. I used to wear something like this.’ It’s like that sorta thing – and Eddie did used to wear something like that.”
Watch Van Halen Perform “Poundcake” At The 1991 MTV Video Music Awards