Who influenced Eddie Van Halen's? How did his individual playing approach evolve? Was it by happenstance or all carefully crafted? Guitar World has taken on the task of revisiting Eddie's roots and influences to come up with an answer to those questions. Before offering up six immersive studies of Eddie's groundbreaking sound, Guitar World's Phil Short wrote: It’s a … [Read more...]
New Clip From Upcoming Randy Rhoads Documentary Including Rare Eddie Van Halen Audio [VIDEO]
A teaser clip from a new documentary on Randy Rhoads titled Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon includes archived audio from Eddie Van Halen giving his thoughts on the perceived Eddie vs Randy rivalry back in the Sunset Strip club days. The clip - premiered exclusively by Guitar World - revisits the days when Rhoads was the guitarist for Quiet Riot, who performed … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story’ Author Paul Brannigan Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with author Paul Brannigan to talk about his book Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story! Here's a rundown of the topics covered in the interview: Eddie's guitar and recorder always by his sideThe influence parents Jan and Eugenia had on EddieForget the Fab Four, Eddie's fire was lit by The Dave Clark Five!Eric Clapton was the Cream of the … [Read more...]
Stephen Pearcy On The First Time Seeing Van Halen Live, Becoming Friends With Eddie
Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy recalled the time he had his mind blown by Van Halen during a recent interview with Metal Edge. Pearcy, who is from Long Beach, California, formed a band out of San Diego in 1977 called Mickey Ratt. In 1980, he decided to move his band to Los Angeles after seeing Van Halen for the first time. It was at a legendary club on the Sunset Strip in … [Read more...]
Carmine Appice On Eddie & Alex Van Halen’s Love For The Band Cactus
Legendary drummer Carmine Appice is probably best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge and Rod Stewart but there were no bigger fans of his band Cactus than Eddie & Alex Van Halen. Cactus formed out of Long Island, New York in 1969 and featured Appice on drums, former Vanilla Fudge bandmate Tim Bogert on bass, Jim McCarty (Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels, The Buddy Miles … [Read more...]
A Video Tour Of Alex Van Halen’s Drum Sets Through The Years
The YouTube channel 65 Drums has gone back through the legendary career of Alex Van Halen to highlight each and every drum set he used from his early pre-fame days right through to 2012's A Different Kind of Truth! Here's the complete video with a chapter breakdown below: CHAPTERS Early Years :44Bands Leading To Van Halen 1:41Early 70s Drum Sets 2:24Van Halen I … [Read more...]
The ‘Unchained’ Sessions, Donn Landee & More Covered In Latest Sunset Sound Van Halen Roundtable [VIDEO]
Guitarist/producer Doug Messenger returned to Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles to reveal more behind-the-scenes stories on Van Halen! Messenger first caught Van Halen perform in February of 1977 and quickly made a call to Warner Bros., urging them to check out this guitar hero named Eddie Van Halen. Soon after, the former Van Morrison guitarist became among Eddie's most … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen’ Authors Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen authors Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill for an exclusive, in-depth discussion of Eddie Van Halen's legendary career! Throughout the interview Tolinski and Gill give their insight and opinions on a wide range of EVH topics including: Eddie's childhood days overcoming his shynessHis relationship … [Read more...]
Podcast Explores Van Halen’s Rare & Unreleased Recordings
It's the biggest question among Van Halen fans: Will we ever get to hear what's in the 5150 vaults? The fascination with Van Halen's vast collection of unreleased material was pretty intense back in the 80s and 90s but with the emergence of the internet, it grew to mammoth (pun intended) proportions. The Wax Audio Show podcast recently released an exceptionally … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview: ‘Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock’ Author Michael Christopher
The Van Halen News Desk's Eric Senich talked with music journalist Michael Christopher about his new book Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock! Below is the complete interview conducted by Senich for his podcast Booked On Rock. Christopher discusses a wide range of topics related to Van Halen including: The band's early days in Pasadena and original bassist Mark … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ’77 Pasadena Concert Ranks Among ‘Greatest Live Moments In Entire History Of The Guitar’ By Louder
The rock website Louder has placed Van Halen's 1977 concert at the Pasadena Convention Center among the 32 greatest live moments in the entire history of the guitar. The list was compiled by the staff at Classic Rock magazine and aimed to "celebrate the pioneering, the spectacular and the unrepeatable" with their history of the guitar's greatest onstage moments. Here is … [Read more...]
Eddie & Alex Van Halen Childhood Home & The Graffiti They Left Behind [VIDEO]
A YouTuber has given Van Halen fans the chance to get an up close look at the childhood home of Eddie and Alex Van Halen along with some graffiti the brothers left behind! The host of SCOTT ON TAPE took a trip to Las Lunas Street in Pasadena, California to get a good view of the home and neighborhood Ed and Al hung out at. He also managed to get a shot of the shed in back … [Read more...]