That smile. The ever-present impish grin. As a kid, thatās what struck me about Eddie Van Halen, almost as much as his reinvention of rock nā roll guitar. I donāt remember ever seeing anyone else look quite as effortlessly happy playing guitar as he did.
As a Generation X child who grew up in the ā80s, Van Halen to me was Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Better Off Dead, the brilliantly sparse video for āJump,ā and the MTV zeitgeist clips for āPanamaā and āHot for Teacher.ā Diamond Dave looked and acted larger-than-life, but Eddie, Alex, and Mikey sounded larger-than-life. Donāt get me wrong, everything DLR did on those records was important, it was cool, it was right.
But the music of Van Halen, the guitar, always superseded whoever was on the mic. While it needed the other guys over the years, the band belonged to the brothers.
Roth was a walking party, and if that was your thing, cool. But for an arty and alienated kid in Indiana who was more into comic books and vampires than football and beer, it was Ed that held the mystique for me. His fingers were fire, his tone disruptive, like, it shook something in my soul. I wasnāt sure I ever even heard him strum a chord. The notes that came out of his hands were like, I donāt know, lyrical themselves. Roth could scat about whatever bikini babe or whatever stuff he wanted to; gimme those drums, those guitars, that silkily smooth background harmony from Michael Anthony.
I was the right age to watch One Day at a Time, so I knew who Valerie Bertinelli was, and there was something about her wholesome image and vibe that softened Eddie to me, made him even more likable. (Speaking of that show, I love the House Of Pain lyric, āIām super like Schneider.ā) The love the couple shared for their son and seemed to maintain for each other, even in separation and divorce, looked like a model of sorts for co-parenting.
I was young when DLR left the band. I knew Sammy Hagar from āI Canāt Drive 55ā and the album cover where heās parachuting into Washington D.C., his last studio record before Van Hagar. I remember watching Sammy and Eddie jam together at Farm Aid, on television, and it seemed as though Ed found someone who shared his pure joy. I bought the 45 single for āWhy Canāt This Be Love.ā My older brother wasnāt feeling it. While it was certainly a different Van Halen, it was still Van Halen to me. I was into punk and new wave and was about to discover Motƶrhead via MTVās late-night re-runs of The Young Ones, a show that shaped much of my sense of humor. I didnāt care for the glam rock stuff, but I stayed interested in Van Halen.
Roth was doing his thing and I was happy the world had both bands. (I mean, Steve Vai on guitar?!) I felt like I could feel Edās newfound happiness with Sam. And hey, nobody was telling him to lay off the keyboards anymore. He wasā¦ unchained. (Sorry.)
My buddy Dave Rogers (funny his name was Dave, right?) gave me a cassette copy of Megadethās Peace Sellsā¦ But Whoās Buying? and my fate was sealed as a lifetime thrasher. The New Romantic and darker punk stuff I loved was put on hold; anything remotely commercial was anathema; thrash metal, harder punk, then hardcore was all.
I had a chance to see Van Hagar headline the Monsters Of Rock tour at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, July 6, 1988. However, I was such a diehard thrasher at that time, in my denim and Metallica shirt, that my friend Dave and I went to the show, stood through Kingdom Come (āKingdom Cloneā), middle fingers in the air, watched Metallica (who played āHarvester of Sorrow,ā which wasnāt out!), then proudly skipped Dokken, Scorpions, and Van Halen, and went home. Why? Because Dokken and Scorpions were āposeurā and Van Halen seemed at least poseur-adjacent. What can I say? If it wasnāt Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Exodusā¦
But my true love for Van Halen didnāt really wane. And like KISS, the music journalist in me- the fact collector, magazine devourer, and investigator - followed the different sagas as they unfolded. I was a fan through the 90s, even when it was hard.
One of my first bylines was a review of the ill-fated Roth reunion Best Of collection.
The first time I actually saw Van Halen live was with Gary Cherone in 1998, a decade after that Monsters Of Rock show, at Deer Creek Music Center. I know, I know, but hear me out: Sammy would only do āthe fiveā DLR-era songs; Roth wouldnāt do any Sammy stuff (nor should he have tried) and he wasnāt fond of deep cuts. With Cherone, the band was on fire, and they fully celebrated both eras, hard. I had a great time.
When I moved to LA and became a regular at Metal Shop (now Steel Panther) shows at the Viper Room, I was lucky enough to see Michael Anthony and Cherone onstage together, January 2003. Mikey joined Cheroneās band, Tribe Of Judah, for a couple of songs. They did āSomebody Get Me a Doctorā from Van Halen II and Michael Anthony sang lead vocals, with Cherone doing backups! (Nuno was there, too, and came up to tear through some Zeppelin). Later, Anthony did āUnchainedā and āHot for Teacherā with Metal Shop, joking with DLR superfan Ralph Saenz that this was his āauditionā for a spot in Van Halen.
I did a lot of reporting on Van Halen for MTV, including the ill-fated āSam and Daveā tour (at the press conference, Roth said Cherone was busy ādoing The Vagina Monologuesā); the leadup to the even more ill-fated reunion tour with Sammy, all of it. If there was Van Halen news, I was happy to get it out there. I wanted to see it back up on its feet. (The dream, of course, was a āBest of Both Worldsā style tour.)
The Michael Anthony stuff at the Viper Room was cool.
But it was nothing compared to what I witnessed in 2012.
Dave, Ed, Al, and Wolfie.
An invite-only Van Halen performance at world-famous Jim Henson Studios.
From my recap for Billboard the following day:
HOLLYWOOD, California āĀ Henson StudiosĀ is located just across the street from Crazy Girls. Itās hard to imagine a better place than the crossroads between Kermit the Frog and a Hollywood strip club for David Lee Roth to lead Van Halen through a hit-packed club show. With three giant video screens and a wall of EVH amplifiers loud enough for an arena, the newly recharged band was agile and full of smiles as they performed Wednesday in front of a few hundred VIPs deep inside Charlie Chaplinās old stomping grounds.
Invitations for the event called it an āalbum release celebrationā to promote next weekāsĀ A Different Kind of Truth, the bandās first full length with their original singer sinceĀ 1984. Eddie Van Halen, his drummer/brother Alex, his 20-year-old bassist /son Wolfgang and Roth played for over an hour with few stops and zero hiccups in front of the press, industry VIPs, and fans. Industry folks in the crowd or the ultra-VIP section included Live Nation head Irving Azoff, Universal chief Lucien Grainge, Interscopeās Jimmy Iovine, Michael Rapino, and Ken Sunshine. Wolfgangās momĀ Valerie Bertinelli, Evanescenceās Terry BalsamoĀ and Rob Zombie guitaristĀ John 5Ā were also in the house, and Victoriaās Secret modelĀ Alessandra AmbrosioĀ showed off her baby bump as she danced along to the music.
The band was incredible. It was a small place, but they made it sound big. They had full production, too, complete with flamingo dancers toward the end of the set.
Iām not someone who takes a lot of photos, but I snapped 114 that night. In more than one, I captured that Eddie Van Halen grin. I could swear he was looking right at me.
Iām in a group text chat with my buddy Brian, who is the biggest Van Halen fan Iāve ever met, and a shredding guitar player. Brian, our buddy Kevin, and I have had so many late-night messages back-and-forth in there about all of the bands we love, but especially Van Halen. (I still canāt get them to care about KISS, but Iām trying.) Even as adults, the saga of Van Halen kept us buzzing and engaged. Honestly, more than anything related to that band, I just wanted to see Ed onstage smiling again.
I worked the red carpet as a reporter for the Recording Academy the night before the 2019 Grammy Awards, at a MusiCares event honoring Dolly Parton. I talked to huge stars: Kacey Musgraves, Garth Brooks, Dolly herself. But I was particularly psyched to interview Sammy Hagar. After we were done, I talked to him off the record, for just a few seconds, about his book, and about Ed. The love he maintained for his ex-bandmate, songwriting partner, and friend seemed abundantly apparent.
We all know bands, right? Itās love, itās hate, itās love, itās something nobody else quite understands unless theyāre in it. Van Halen is a family ā literally for three of them, and in every way thatās meaningful for all six of them. We marveled at their epic feuds, but much more, we worshipped that incredible music, the innovation, the jubilation, the power. How many rock drummers do you recognize right away the same way as Alex Van Halen? Whose backup vocals have been as important to a band like that as Michael Anthony? How many bands besides Maiden, AC/DC, Sabbath, Anthrax, Killswitch, and Van Halen can pull off a successful singer switch like that? Itās an elite club.
I love a lot of lead guitar players. The guy who wrote my favorite guitar solo of all time reads this newsletter. Some of my other favorite lead players do, too.
And all of them, as they would no doubt agree, owe something to Eddie Van Halen.
Rest in Power, Edward. Thank you for everything you gave to all of us.
A couple of my photos:
The fans showed their love last week. On October 6, the day Wolfgang tweeted that his father had passed away, Van Halen songs were streamed more than 30 million times.
The bandās streaming activity on October 6 and 7 jumped 1369% from the two days prior, from 2.12M on October 4 and 5 to 31.19M. Van Halen albums and songs generated 112,000 in sales in roughly three days, an increase of nearly 5000% from the 2000 copies sold October 3 - 5. (Figures according to Nielsen Music/MRC.)
This week, the bandās self-titled debut album jumped to No. 18 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart and No. 30 on the Billboard 200.Ā
RIAA CertificationsĀ
The Best of Both Worlds (2004) PLATINUMĀ
Van Halen III (1998) GOLDĀ
Best Of, Volume I (1996) 3x PLATINUMĀ
Balance (1995) 3x PLATINUMĀ
Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993) 2x PLATINUMĀ
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) 3x PLATINUMĀ
OU812 (1988) 4x PLATINUMĀ
5150 (1986) 6x PLATINUMĀ
āJumpā (1984) GOLDĀ
1984 (1984) DIAMONDĀ
Diver Down (1982) 4x PLATINUMĀ
Fair Warning (1981) 2x PLATINUMĀ
Women & Children First (1980) 3x PLATINUMĀ
Van Halen II (1979) 5x PLATINUMĀ
Van Halen (1978) DIAMONDĀ
GRAMMY AwardsĀ
1996 Hard Rock Performance, "The Seventh Seal" (nominated)Ā
1992 Hard Rock Performance, For Unlawful Carnal KnowledgeĀ (WON)
1985 Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, āJumpā (nominated)Ā
Total Activity This Week
Van Halen 17,500Ā
1984 15,000Ā
Best Of Van Halen Vol. 1 12,500Ā
Best of Both Worlds 7000Ā
Pure SalesĀ This Week
Van Halen 6300 this week; 2.1M*Ā
1984 4800 this week; 1.5M
Best of Both Worlds 2100 this week; 1.1MĀ
Van Halen II 1700 this week; 747,000Ā
5150 1700 this week; 1MĀ
Diver Down 1500 this week; 622,000
Women & Children First 1100 this week; 501,000
*Pure Sales totals are since 1991 only
Hard Rock Digital Song SalesĀ
The week of October 17, 2020Ā
Van Halen āJumpāĀ
Van Halen āPanamaāĀ
Van Halen āEruptionāĀ
Van Halen āRunninā with the DevilāĀ
Van Halen āYou Really Got MeāĀ
Van Halen āWhy Canāt This be LoveāĀ
Van Halen āDance the Night AwayāĀ
AC/DC āShot in the DarkāĀ
Van Halen āHot for TeacherāĀ
Van Halen āRight NowāĀ
Van Halen āAināt Talkinā Bout LoveāĀ
Van Halen āJamieās CryināāĀ
Van Halen āDreamsāĀ
Van Halen āLove Walks InāĀ
Van Halen āWhen Itās LoveāĀ
Van Halen āIāll WaitāĀ
AC/DC āThunderstruckāĀ
Van Halen āBeautiful GirlsāĀ
Spiritbox āHoly RollerāĀ
Van Halen āUnchainedāĀ
Van Halen āAnd the Cradle Will Rockā¦āĀ
Bon Jovi āLivinā On a PrayerāĀ
Van Halen ā(Oh) Pretty WomanāĀ
Disturbed āThe Sound of SilenceāĀ
Van Halen āIce Cream ManāĀ
Hot Hard Rock SongsĀ
The week of October 17, 2020Ā
Van Halen āJumpāĀ
Van Halen āPanamaāĀ
Van Halen āRunninā with the DevilāĀ
Linkin Park āIn the EndāĀ
Van Halen āYou Really Got MeāĀ
Van Halen āEruptionāĀ
Van Halen āHot for TeacherāĀ
AC/DC āShot in the DarkāĀ
Five Finger Death Punch āA Little Bit OffāĀ
The Hu āWolf Totemā ft. Jacoby ShaddixĀ
Seether āDangerousāĀ
Corey Taylor āBlack Eyes BlueāĀ
Deftones āOhmsāĀ
I Prevail āEvery Time You Leaveā ft. Delaney Jane
Bring Me The Horizon āParasite EveāĀ
Badflower ā30āĀ
Metallica/SFSO āAll Within My HandsāĀ
The Pretty Reckless āDeath by Rock and RollāĀ
Three Days Grace āSomebody That I Used to KnowāĀ
Shinedown āAtlas FallsāĀ
Bring Me The Horizon with YUNGBLUD āObeyāĀ
Spiritbox āHoly RollerāĀ
Marilyn Manson āWe Are ChaosāĀ
Deftones āGenesisāĀ
Starset āTrialsāĀ
Apple Musicļ£æĀ Ā
Top Hard Rock, etc.Ā
October 13, 2020Ā
AC/DC āBack in BlackāĀ
Linkin Park āIn the EndāĀ
AC/DC āThunderstruckāĀ
AC/DC āShot in the DarkāĀ
Queen āBohemian RhapsodyāĀ
Van Halen āJumpāĀ
Metallica āEnter SandmanāĀ
Van Halen āPanamaāĀ
AC/DC āHighway to HellāĀ
AC/DC āYou Shook Me All Night LongāĀ
Linkin Park āNumbāĀ
Bon Jovi āLivinā On a PrayerāĀ
Van Halen āRunninā With the DevilāĀ
Guns Nā Roses āSweet Child Oā MineāĀ
Nickelback āRockstarāĀ
Guns Nā Roses āWelcome to the JungleāĀ
Nickelback āHow You Remind MeāĀ
Aerosmith āDream OnāĀ
Three Days Grace āI Hate Everything About YouāĀ
Ozzy Osbourne āCrazy TraināĀ
System Of A Down āChop Suey!āĀ
Jimmy Eat World āThe MiddleāĀ
Queen āDonāt Stop Me NowāĀ
Queen āAnother One Bites the DustāĀ
Falling In Reverse āPopular MonsterāĀ
Mƶtley CrĆ¼e āKickstart My HeartāĀ
Def Leppard āPour Some Sugar On MeāĀ
Led Zeppelin āStairway to HeavenāĀ
Bad Wolves āZombieāĀ
Van Halen āAināt Talkinā āBout LoveāĀ
Evanescence āBring Me to LifeāĀ
Three Days Grace āAnimal I Have BecomeāĀ
Queen & David Bowie āUnder PressureāĀ
Papa Roach āLast ResortāĀ
Disturbed āThe Sound of SilenceāĀ
Linkin Park āOne Step CloserāĀ
Five Finger Death Punch āBad CompanyāĀ
AC/DC āHells BellsāĀ
Van Halen āYou Really Got MeāĀ
Van Halen āHot for TeacherāĀ
Guns Nā Roses āParadise CityāĀ
Van Halen āEruptionāĀ
Linkin Park āCrawlingāĀ
Metallica āNothing Else MattersāĀ
Metallica āFor Whom the Bell TollsāĀ
AC/DC āT.N.T.āĀ
3 Doors Down āKryptoniteāĀ
Metallica āOneāĀ
Queen āWe Will Rock YouāĀ
Disturbed āDown with the SicknessāĀ
Aerosmith āSweet EmotionāĀ
Blue Ćyster Cult ā(Donāt Fear) the ReaperāĀ
Led Zeppelin āImmigrant SongāĀ
Weezer āIsland in the SunāĀ
Mƶtley CrĆ¼e āHome Sweet HomeāĀ
Bon Jovi āYou Give Love a Bad NameāĀ
Three Days Grace āRiotāĀ
AC/DC āShoot to ThrillāĀ
Jay-Z & Linkin Park āNumb/EncoreāĀ
Linkin Park āWhat Iāve DoneāĀ
Linkin Park āPapercutāĀ
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts āI Love Rock āN RollāĀ
Skillet āMonsterāĀ
Bon Jovi āWanted Dead or AliveāĀ
Weezer āSay it Aināt SoāĀ
System Of A Down āToxicityāĀ
Hinder āLips of an AngelāĀ
Audioslave āLike a StoneāĀ
Nickelback āFar AwayāĀ
3 Doors Down āHere Without YouāĀ
Staind āItās Been a WhileāĀ
Greta Van Fleet āMy Way, SoonāĀ
Theory Of A Deadman āRxāĀ
Three Days Grace āNever Too LateāĀ
Guns Nā Roses āKnockinā On Heavenās DoorāĀ
The Smashing Pumpkins ā1979āĀ
Nickelback āPhotographāĀ
Alice In Chains āMan in the BoxāĀ
Black Sabbath āParanoidāĀ
Five Finger Death Punch āJekyll and HydeāĀ
Rage Against The Machine āBulls On ParadeāĀ
Metallica āThe UnforgivenāĀ
Buckcherry āCrazy BitchāĀ
Slipknot āDualityāĀ
Van Halen āJamieās CryināāĀ
Queen āBohemian RhapsodyāĀ
Trapt āHeadstrongāĀ
Alice In Chains āRoosterāĀ
Nickelback āAnimalsāĀ
Linkin Park āSomewhere I BelongāĀ
Rage Against The Machine āKilling in the NameāĀ
Slipknot āPsychosocialāĀ
Black Sabbath āIron ManāĀ
Guns Nā Roses āNovember RaināĀ
System Of A Down āAerialsāĀ
The Cranberries āZombieāĀ
Five Finger Death Punch āA Little Bit OffāĀ
Korn āComing UndoneāĀ
Queen āWe Are the ChampionsāĀ
Mƶtley CrĆ¼e āGirls, Girls, GirlsāĀ
Van Halen āDance the Night AwayāĀ
Led Zeppelin āWhole Lotta LoveāĀ
Soundgarden āBlack Hole SunāĀ
Metallica āMaster of PuppetsāĀ
Aerosmith āWalk This WayāĀ
Nickelback āBurn it to the GroundāĀ
Shinedown āSecond ChanceāĀ
Linkin Park āBreaking the HabitāĀ
Queen āSomebody to LoveāĀ
Avenged Sevenfold āHail to the KingāĀ
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