Wolfgang Van Halen felt he owed Ken Shepherd a sincere "thank you". After all, without Shepherd, there would be no Wolfgang. In 1980, Edward Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli met for the first time. Valerie was staying at her parents’ home in Shreveport, Louisiana due to an actors strike and scored backstage passes to see Van Halen perform in the area. Those passes were … [Read more...]
Van Halen Brothers Rank 2nd On Top 20 Sibling Acts List
Alex and Eddie Van Halen were named the second best sibling act in rock by Van Halen at 50 author Martin Popoff. Popoff listed the 20 best siblings in a recent article for Goldmine magazine. The VH brothers finished second behind the Angus brothers Angus and Malcolm. Below is what Popoff had to say about Eddie and Alex: Ticking many of the boxes, brothers Alex and Eddie … [Read more...]
Dweezil Zappa Shares Edward Van Halen Guitar Lessons with Rick Beato
Dweezil Zappa appeared on Rick Beato's YouTube show to share his guitar lessons from Edward Van Halen. Dweezil first met Edward, who was good friends with his father Frank, when he was 12 years old. In the video above he recalled the moment he first met Edward, played some of his favorite Van Halen riffs, and explained the ease and joy in which Edward played the … [Read more...]
Alex Van Halen Announces Three-City Book Tour
In anticipation of his upcoming book Brothers, Alex Van Halen will make three book signing appearances next month. He's scheduled to be in New York, New Jersey, and California. The final will be a Live Talks virtual event. October 21 @ 12PMBarnes & Noble Fifth AveNew York, NY October 22 @ 6PMBooks & GreetingsNorthvale, NJ October 24 @ 8PMLive Talks LA @ The … [Read more...]
Sammy Hagar Thanks Fans In Best Of All Worlds Recap
The Best Of All Worlds summer tour is in the books and Sammy Hagar has thanked the fans in a new video. Sammy and his bandmates Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, Jason Bonham, and Ray Thistlewaite will play three shows in Japan next month. As for what happens after that? Watching the video above, it appears like the Best Of All Worlds band isn't done yet! … [Read more...]
Thomas Dolby: Edward Van Halen’s Life Was Like ‘Spinal Tap’
Edward Van Halen saw This Is Spinal Tap. He also lived it. During a recent interview with Jeremy White, Dolby recalled a conversation with Edward when the topic of Spinal Tap came up. At the time, Edward was lending his guitar talents to a few tracks on Dolby's then-upcoming album Astronauts & Heretics - "Eastern Bloc" and "Close But No Cigar". "I went up to his … [Read more...]
Edward Van Halen’s ‘Frankenstein’ Ranked 3rd Most Iconic Guitar Of All Time
Edward Van Halen's homemade "Frankenstein" guitar placed third on Billboard's recent list of the 100 most iconic guitars of all time. Before we get to what Billboard had to say about Edward's guitar and their rankings, here is how they came up with their list: What is "the greatest"? Iconic, influential, inventive, famous, game changing? Unusual, oddball, beautiful, even … [Read more...]
Did David Lee Roth Almost Form A Band Featuring Billy Sheehan & Carmine Appice?
A David Lee Roth band featuring a returning Billy Sheehan and drummer Carmine Appice almost happened in the late 90s? That was a question DLR Book author Darren Paltrowitz recently posed to Sheehan. Below is the Q&A excerpt from Sheehan's recent appearance on Paltrowitz's podcast The Paltrocast. DP: In '97, '98 Dave did this newsletter through a website that's since … [Read more...]
Michael Anthony Expects Alex Van Halen’s Book To Focus On The Good Times
Michael Anthony doesn't know what's inside Alex Van Halen's upcoming book "Brothers" but he expects Alex will focus on the good times had rather than the dirt. "Alex, basically, like myself — I've never been one to wanna talk smack about the band or whatever, 'cause I choose to remember all the good stuff and all the good times that we had," said Anthony during a recent … [Read more...]
Kenny Aronoff Replaces Jason Bonham, ‘Saves The Day’ For Hagar
Jason Bonham had to exit Sammy Hagar's "The Best Of All Worlds" tour due to an undisclosed family matter. Kenny Aronoff, a former bandmate of Hagar in Chickenfoot, covered for Bonham on Tuesday (August 27) in Cincinnati and last night (August 28) in Nashville. Two shows remain on the summer run. It's unclear whether Aronoff will finish out the tour on drums or if Jason Bonham … [Read more...]
David Lee Roth Deep Track ‘Black Sand’ Featured In New Animated Video
An underrated and underappreciated summertime gem from David Lee Roth is having its day in the sun thanks to a new animated video released by the Mojo Dojo YouTube channel. Artist Ramses Rios has put together a video set to the sounds of Roth's 1998 song "Black Sand", originally included on his album DLR Band. "Perhaps one of David Lee Roth’s greatest and most underrated … [Read more...]
Mike Tramp Recalls One-On-One Career Advice From David Lee Roth
During a recent appearance on The Paltrocast, Mike Tramp of White Lion recalled a one-on-one meeting with David Lee Roth that would eventually take him to New York in pursuit of rock stardom. The meeting occurred in 1981 when Van Halen was in Madrid, Spain. Tramp was fronting the band Studs, who had just released their debut album. "I'm probably one of the only ones in … [Read more...]