"The first time I saw Van Halen it changed the way I looked at music and performing forever. It was 1978 and I had just formed my own group, Dokken. We were opening up for them for two nights at the Starwood in Hollywood. I was standing in my dressing room when they went on. Their first record wasn’t out yet, but they hit the stage like they had already made it. I could hear … [Read more...]
Watch The Van Halen Brother’s Instrumental Jam at the US Festival
Enjoy this clear footage from the US Festival, 32 years ago! Through the intense instrumental "Girl Gone Bad," to Ed's melodic tapping of "Women in Love," to a reworked "I'm So Glad," the Van Halen? brothers take us on a ride that we don't want to end! A new, high quality 9-minute video clip of Van Halen's performance at the 1983 US Festival has been released online and can be … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen’s OUTRAGEOUS House Party & Backyard Concert!
On this day in 2006, a grandiose event occurred at the famous 5150 estate. Eddie Van Halen hosted an extravagant and decadent party to celebrate the release of a friend's movie release. The friend was Michael Ninn, and the movie was Sacred Sin. The movie was actually adult film, and much to everyone's surprise, Eddie Van Halen contributed two music tracks to the … [Read more...]
Jeff Beck Praises Eddie Van Halen
Here's what legendary guitarist Jeff Beck has to say about Eddie Van Halen: “I suppose what people are pointing at is Van Halen for being the innovator and the one that committed tapping, hammering-on and harmonic screams to tape before anybody else. That’s quite right. It’s something he should get credit for.” — Jeff Beck, from an interview in Guitar magazine “I … [Read more...]
33 Years Ago: Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar First Perform Together
In a way, the birth of "Van Hagar" was exactly 33 years ago today. It was during the summer of 1985 that rock fans heard the devastating news that Van Halen and David Lee Roth had split up. There were rumors that the band was going to look for a new singer, but that's all that anyone knew. It was September 22, 1985, when "Red Rocker" Sammy Hagar performed at the first Farm Aid, … [Read more...]