David Lee Roth was inspired by our article 40 Years Ago Today – Van Halen Hits the Sunset Strip! so much so that he sent us an exclusive audio describing how important it was for Van Halen to spend years playing Gazzarris in the mid seventies. He calls it their "college of musical knowledge." Listen to Dave's 5-minute recording above. Big thanks to Diamond Dave for sharing … [Read more...]
50 Years Ago: Van Halen Hit the Sunset Strip!
This is the amazing story of how Van Halen broke out of the backyard party scene by playing their first concert on the infamous Sunset Strip! Their gig at Gazzarri's on April 4th, 1974, was their first performance in Hollywood. Landing this gig helped catapult the band out of Pasadena's backyard beer bashes, and thrust them headfirst into Tinseltown! This historic date was a … [Read more...]
Unearthed: Earliest Known Van Halen Interview (1977)
Exclusive: Before Van Halen exploded in 1978 and started being featured in national music magazines, a small rock fanzine covering mostly local Los Angeles bands scored an interview with the lead singer of Van Halen. This interview took place backstage at the Whisky A Go-Go, in September of 1977, nearly half a year before Van Halen's first album hit the record stores! Raw … [Read more...]
Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley Address Rumors That Eddie Van Halen Wanted To Join KISS
Gene Simmons has always boasted that Edward Van Halen asked if he could join Kiss in 1982. This crazy-sounding rumor has always baffled many. Would Eddie really want to join KISS at the time Van Halen's fame was skyrocketing and Kiss's fame was waning? In the new issue of Guitar World magazine (April 2014), Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons celebrate their … [Read more...]
Randy Rhoads “Devastated” After First Seeing Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen and the late, great, Randy Rhoads were two of the youngest, hottest guitarists of the '70s. Both happened to live in southern California, and their paths crossed from time to time. Here's some Eddie Van Halen tidbits from Randy Rhoads biographer, Andrew Klein: The very first time Randy Rhoads saw Van Halen [in '76 or '77], he took his girlfriend Jan with … [Read more...]
Great White’s Mark Kendall on seeing Van Halen on the Sunset Strip
From ClassicRockRevisited.com: In this interview, Great White guitarist Mark Kendall, discusses their new album and why they have recently remixed the album Elation with famed studio wizard George Tutko. Kendall also discusses the early Sunset Strip rock scene, including the when he saw Van Halen in concert for the price of one dollar: You have the live album out, as well, … [Read more...]
David Lee Roth: Gene Simmons Tried To Recruit Eddie For KISS, But I Was On To His Game
Yesterday we featured a quote from an old friend of Van Halen's that said that sometime before Van Halen's debut album was released, Kiss's Gene Simmons tried to recruit Eddie Van Halen for his band. In his out-of-print autobiography, ‘Crazy From The Heat’, David Lee Roth concurs that Gene Simmons tried to recruit Eddie Van Halen for KISS. Here's what Roth had to say in his … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s 40th Anniversary
Special thanks to Pasadena Magazine for sharing their article with VHND readers! Pasadena, CA, July 2, 2012 — Pasadena Magazine is proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of hard rocking local boys Van Halen with a cover story by writer, musician and air guitar champion Dan Crane (star of Air Guitar Nation), pegged to the release of their latest album, A Different Kind of … [Read more...]
Van Halen – King of Gazzarri’s
The band just sent us a new tidbit, just for VHND.com! We'll call it "King of Gazzarri's"! How fucking cool is this?! Van Halen, just sitting around, laughing and sharing memories from the club days? More to come! … [Read more...]
KISS’s Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley Rave About Van Halen
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS contributed to two coffee table photo books, Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen, both published by legendary rock photographer Neil Zlozower. The Van Halen News Desk has the exclusive on both quotes. "Once upon a time, when it meant something to be a rock star and groupies prided themselves on whom they had spent the night with, I was … [Read more...]
Lita Ford: “Eddie Van Halen is The Les Paul of Today’s World”
Photo: The Runaways with David Lee Roth and Rodney Bingenheimer at K-ROQ in Pasadena. From VHND archives. "In the very early days, the Runaways and Van Halen musically grew up together on the Sunset Strip. Edward was my friend. I’d go to his house after a night of partying, and we would say “Hi” to his mom, and he’d make me breakfast by opening a packet of Carnation Instant … [Read more...]
Running with the Devil: A Lifetime of Van Halen
From SLAKE: The Los Angeles Quarterly: By John Albert The first time I hear Van Halen I am fourteen years old, riding in a car through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. My friend Steve Darrow is riding shotgun while his dad steers the dusty old Volvo station wagon. Chris Darrow is in his forties and has long hair and a slightly drooping cowboy mustache. In the … [Read more...]