Eddie Van Halen was ranked fourth on the list of the 50 best rhythm guitarists of all time by Guitar World readers. "As voted for by you, here are the players who don't necessarily need 16 bars and a spotlight solo to rubber-stamp their greatness," wrote Jonathan Horsley in a recent article posted to Guitar World's website. Here's what Horsley wrote of Eddie, who finished … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen News
Valerie Bertenelli On The Alanis Morissette & Peter Gabriel Songs That Would Bring Eddie To Tears [AUDIO]
Wolfgang Van Halen was joined by his mom Valerie Bertinelli for the latest episode of his weekly SiriusXM radio show "Wolfgang's Top of the Pack". Bertinelli shared some candid memories of Eddie Van Halen with her son, including the two songs that would often bring tears of joy to his father's eyes. In the clip above, Bertinelli recalled the times she would play Alanis … [Read more...]
Ted Nugent On Why Eddie Van Halen Was The Best Guitarist He’s Ever Seen: ‘He Had An Unbelievable, Uncanny Superman Sense Of Rhythm’
Credit: Neil Zlozower Ted Nugent says Eddie Van Halen's "Superman" sense of rhythm is what puts him above and beyond any other guitarist he's ever seen perform. In Tuesday's (May 3rd) episode of Nugent's podcast "The Nightly Nuge", he was asked to name the best guitar player he's ever seen. "There's so many. I'm gonna go ahead and give it to Eddie Van Halen because … [Read more...]
New Clip From Upcoming Randy Rhoads Documentary Including Rare Eddie Van Halen Audio [VIDEO]
Credit: Neil Zlozower 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 … [Read more...]
WATCH: Sammy Hagar Shares Another Van Halen Video From The Vaults – ‘Why Can’t This Be Love?’ Live From Tokyo ’89
It's 5150 celebration time! Thirty-six years ago this week, Van Halen's 5150 album topped the charts. It was the band's first number one album and first featuring Sammy Hagar on lead vocals. To celebrate, Hagar shared a video of the band performing the album's debut single - "Why Can't This Be Love" - live from Tokyo, Japan in 1989. Along with the video, Hagar and … [Read more...]
Guitarist Craig Parker Adams On Following In Eddie Van Halen’s Footsteps…Literally [VIDEO]
Credit: Neil Zlozower Many guitarists have studied the lightning-fast fingers of Eddie Van Halen in a quest to capture just a fraction of his musical magic. Craig Parker Adams, however, found himself drawn to more than just his fingers. "I didn't go after Ed the way most people go after Ed," Adams said during a recent appearance on the podcast Johnny Beane TV. "I had … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Left Seven-Figure Donation To Mr Holland’s Opus Foundation
Eddie Van Halen's legacy is alive and well and thanks to a recent donation at his bequest, so is the art form he was most passionate about - music. Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation recently revealed that Eddie left a "transformative" financial contribution to support music education in at-risk public schools via a seven-figure bequest to the foundation. Eddie had a close … [Read more...]
Exclusive: David Lee Roth Chimes in on Rumored Van Halen Celebration Tour
The Van Halen News Desk reached out to David Lee Roth about the new rumors that there are (or where?) some behind-the-scenes discussions contemplating the possibility of some sort of tour celebrating Van Halen's legacy. We've got an exclusive quote from him, below... But first, let's look at the rumors from the last few days... Joe Satriani says he's been in talks with … [Read more...]
‘Diver Down’ 40th Anniversary Tribute!
‘It’s not heavy metal and it’s not The Temptations, but it’s something in between.’—David Lee Roth Forty years ago today, April 14th, 1982, Van Halen released their most unique, odd, and light-hearted album. Enjoy our tribute to Diver Down! Diver Down, Temperature Up By John Scanlan Before the making of Fair Warning, Roth had moved to an apartment block … [Read more...]
The Denver Snow Show, Visiting 5150 & More Van Halen Stories With Guitarist Damon Johnson [VIDEO]
From a snowstorm concert in September to being the subject of an Eddie/Alex debate to visiting the hallowed 5150 Studios, guitarist Damon Johnson has plenty of Van Halen stories to tell and he shared them all during a recent appearance on Final Resonance TV. Back in 1995, Johnson (Thin Lizzy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Blackstar Riders) was the lead vocalist and guitarist … [Read more...]
Guitarist Damon Johnson Recalls The Life Changing Night He Saw Van Halen In 1980 [VIDEO]
Credit: Neil Zlozower Guitarist Damon Johnson says the night he first witnessed Van Halen in concert, it literally left him in tears. Johnson (Brother Cane, Thin Lizzy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Blackstar Riders) was a recent guest on Final Resonance TV and shared the story of the time he first saw Van Halen in concert. It was on August 4th, 1980 at the … [Read more...]
Joe Satriani On Eddie Van Halen’s ‘No Rules Apply’ Approach To Music [VIDEO]
Credit: Rudy Childs Joe Satriani says when it comes to creating music, rules should never apply, and nobody understood that more than Eddie Van Halen. During a recent interview with FaceCulture, Satriani praised Eddie's improvisational skills, especially when it came to composing music on guitar. "[Eddie] figured out a way to write these really fun songs, but they were … [Read more...]