Justin Hawkins says he and Wolfgang Van Halen had very little time to prepare their mini-Van Halen set before 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London last year during the Taylor Hawkins tribute. Just one run-through and go. Here's an excerpt from an article posted to Ultimate-Guitar by Greg Prato: Of the many performances at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts at … [Read more...]
Alex Van Halen
McDonald’s Releases Christmas Ad Featuring Van Halen’s ‘Jump’
Nothin' like a Big Mac with an extra large order of Van Halen! McDonald's latest Christmas ad titled 'Fancy A McDonald's' features the Van Halen song that's as familiar as the McDonald's arches - "Jump". It features various scenarios including parents at a nativity play, friends at a work Christmas party, and even Santa Claus himself, with people coming together to head to … [Read more...]
Triumph’s Rik Emmett: US Festival Wasn’t Van Halen’s Best Moment
Credit: Neil Zlozower Triumph singer/guitarist Rik Emmett says Van Halen may have started the party too early on the day of the 1983 US Festival. During a recent interview with Ultimate-Guitar's Greg Prato, Emmett commented on Triumph's appearance at the US Festival's "Heavy Metal Day" on May 29, 1983, which saw performances from Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy … [Read more...]
Paul Gilbert: ‘Van Halen II’ Was Life-Changing
Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert says Van Halen II is among the ten albums that changed his life. Here's what Gilbert had to say about Van Halen's classic sophomore effort from 1979 during a recent interview with ClassicRockHistory.com's Andrew Daly: All the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen records were monuments of excellence to me. But Van Halen II hit me at just the right … [Read more...]
John 5 On ’07 David Lee Roth Recordings: ‘I’d Love To Do Some Songs ‘Fair Warning’ Style
Guitarist John 5 says he'd like to rework some of the songs he recorded with David Lee Roth in 2007, only this time with an old-school Van Halen edge. "I'd love to do some [of those] songs "Fair Warning" style," John 5 said during a recent interview on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk". "Heavy, distorted guitars, and riffs, and solos, and all that cool stuff but...I … [Read more...]
Roth Keeping ‘A Different Kind Of Truth’ Off Streaming Platforms
Wolfgang Van Halen says David Lee Roth is preventing Van Halen's 2012 album A Different Kind Of Truth from returning to streaming platforms. During a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Wolfgang was asked if he knew why ADKOT disappeared from all streaming services. "Yes. The contract ran out on putting it up on streaming services," replied … [Read more...]
Sammy Hagar Recalls The Work Hard, Play Hard Van Halen Years
Sammy Hagar says the success of his tenure with Van Halen was due to an intense work ethic led by the Van Halen brothers Eddie and Alex. But that didn't mean the band didn't find time to play as hard as they worked. During an interview with Fox News Digital, Hagar looked back on all four studio albums he recorded with Van Halen, the last being … [Read more...]
Sammy & Eddie Get Candid In Part 2 Of ’87 Guitar Player Interview
Jas Obrecht dropped part two of his in-depth interview with Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen from 1987! This is the second part of my July 14, 1987, joint interview with Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar. This interview took place on the patio of Sammy’s spacious home in Mill Valley, California. As mentioned in the intro to Part 1, at the time of this interview Sammy had … [Read more...]
Opera Singer Hears Van Halen’s ‘Right Now’ For First Time
Better late than never to hear Van Halen's "Right Now". For opera singer Elizabeth Zharoff, it was worth the wait. Zharoff has a popular YouTube channel The Charismatic Voice, where she gives first-time listens to several songs from the metal, rock, classic rock, and progressive rock genres. She recently featured Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" . This time, … [Read more...]
The Instant Magic Of Van Halen’s ‘5150’
In a new video to mark the release of The Collection II box set, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony reminisced about the first Sammy-era Van Halen album - 5150. Hagar posted the video (above) along with a few additional comments: "Very rarely do you meet with someone, and something creative and magical happens. This is what happened when Sammy entered 5150 studio and started … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday Diamond David Lee Roth!
David Lee Roth's two-page spread inside the Fair Warning tourbook. A real rock 'n' roll superhero! Happy Birthday, Diamond Dave! Born to Nathan and Sybil Roth on born October 10, 1954 in Bloomington, IN. Just a little over twenty years later, David Lee Roth would begin his reign as one of the world's most well-known rock frontmen and one of the best entertainers … [Read more...]
Alex Van Halen Shares Emotional Tribute To Brother Eddie
Alex Van Halen has posted a message to his brother Eddie, who passed away three years ago today: Only those who risk going too far can possibly find how far one can go. - TS Eliot Ed, you were a brave motherfucker. Love you. Miss you. - The VH Family #VanHalenForever Alex posted the message on his official Instagram account. … [Read more...]