Italian car engineer Claudio Zampolli, the man who facilitated the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen, died yesterday (July 7th) at the age of 82. No cause of death has been given. Zampoli is best known to car fans as the creator of the Cizeta V16T Supercar, but Van Halen fans will remember him as the man who gave Eddie Van Halen Hagar's phone number back in 1985. At the time, … [Read more...]
Sammy Hagar Was ‘100 Percent On Board’ With Keeping Van Halen Band Name
Sammy Hagar said he would have been embarrassed to have had Van Halen change their name to Van Hagar in 1985, adding that he fully supported the band's decision to remain Van Halen. Hagar said it was Warner Bros. who suggested the name change. He recalled the moment during an interview with KLOS FM. "Yeah, we were all in a room. And I think [head of Warner … [Read more...]
WatchMojo Pays Tribute To Eddie Van Halen [VIDEO]
The YouTube channel WatchMojo paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen by highlighting his best career moments. In the video above WatchMojo takes a look at the accomplishments of Eddie by counting down his past appearances on: Top 10 Songs That Make You Want to Jump, Top 10 Iconic Guitars of All Time, Top 10 Musical Siblings, Top 10 Coolest Rock Vocal-Guitar Duos, Top 10 Most Insane … [Read more...]
How Eddie Van Halen Brought Marty McFly Back To Life In The Future
Forget the DeLorean. Ditch the flux capacitor. Without Eddie Van Halen Marty McFly would never have stood a chance. Syfy writer Adam Pockross found a very clever way to connect his tribute to the greatest guitarist of all time with the greatest sci-fi film of all time: 1985's "Back To The Future". He posted an opinion piece on Syfy's website titled "If Not For Eddie Van … [Read more...]
Steve Perry On Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Life Changing’ Music & The Possibility Of Joining Van Halen In 1985
Credit: K. Todd Storch/Flickr & Steve Perry/Facebook Legendary Journey vocalist Steve Perry described Eddie Van Halen's talents as "life changing" in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. Perry got to see Eddie up close and in person just as his star was about to rise as Van Halen opened for Journey back in 1978. It was Perry's first tour as frontman with Journey. He … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Guitar Rest Patent Design Slated for Auction
The illustration included in the original patent application. On July 30, 1985, Eddie Van Halen filed for a US Patent on his guitar rest. Described simply as a "musical instrument support," Eddie designed the device to prop up the guitar to make finger tapping easier. According to TMZ, memorabilia collector Eric Kuck plans to auction off the original designs. Kuck … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Donut City’ Covered by Liquid Charlie
Guitarist Charlie Stinchcombe (aka “Liquid Charlie”) has done a "one-take spontaneous jam" of the Eddie Van Halen track, "Donut City." "Donut City" is a song written by Eddie Van Halen that was released on the soundtrack for "The Wild Life." It's one of the only studio-recorded EVH instrumentals that was never released on a VH album, so it's pretty rare. Charlie says, … [Read more...]
Patty Smyth Regrets Turning Down Offer To Join Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen clowning with Patty Smyth, 1985 Regrets. She’s had a few. Not being lead singer of Van Halen is one of them. Patty Smyth has enjoyed a successful career as both the singer of Scandal (“The Warrior”, “Goodbye To You”) and later as a solo artist (“Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”) but she could have added another major accomplishment to that list. Back … [Read more...]
David Letterman Interrogates David Lee Roth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0iIzVraqBc David Lee Roth was David Letterman's first guest of 1985, exactly 35 years ago. Letterman read parts of an unauthorized Van Halen book to Roth, and had to ask if some of the wild rumors about the band's behavior on the road were true. Watch the classic interview , embedded above. … [Read more...]
35 Years Ago: Van Halen Release ‘Hot For Teacher,’ Then Everything Goes To Hell
For the 35th anniversary of the release of "Hot For Teacher" today, we're featuring Van Halen Rising author Greg Renoff's new piece for Ultimate Classic Rock: In the fall of 1984, Van Halen dominated rock 'n' roll. Their latest album, 1984, had sold a jaw-dropping 4 million copies in less than a year. The album’s debut single, the … [Read more...]
Edward Van Halen Rock Walk Induction
On November 13th, 1985, Edward Van Halen placed his hands in cement as he was inducted into the Hollywood, California Rock Walk. The Rock Walk is located in front of the Guitar Center music store on Sunset Boulevard. Other inductees at the inaugural ceremony included Stevie Wonder, Robert Moog (creator of the Moog Synthesizer), drum king Remo Belli, Les Paul, luthier Frank … [Read more...]
Former Van Halen Manager Writes Tell-All Book
A new tell-all book has been written by Noel Monk, Van Halen manager from 1978-1985. It's the only Van Halen book chronicling the early years written by a member of the Van Halen camp. And by their manager, no less! Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen is being released in less than … [Read more...]