Nuno Bettencourt has honored Edward Van Halen by playing on a custom-made black and yellow striped “Bumblee” guitar during the video for Extreme’s latest single “Beautiful Girls”.
The original guitar designed by Edward debuted on the back cover of the 1979 album Van Halen II and was heavily played throughout the 1979 world tour. Bettencourt recently told Guitar World‘s Matt Owen that he’s been a fan of the guitar since he first laid eyes on the album.
“I used to stare at the Van Halen II album for days on end, and that was my favorite Eddie guitar that he had through his whole career,” Bettencourt told GW. “It was always the most magical one.
“I don’t know what it was about it,” he continued. “Maybe it’s the photos on the cover, maybe it’s the tone of that album – but I’ve always wanted one of his, and I never got one. So I thought maybe I could get my own N4 version of it, and had it done.”
A few more nods to Van Halen in that Extreme video that you will likely pick up on. The first is the song title “Beautiful Girls” (a song incidentally off of the album Edward debuted the “Bumblee” – Van Halen II). The other is the Diamond Dave-esque kiss at the end. “Beautifully” done boys!
Watch Extreme “Beautiful Girls”