Van Halen
Wolfgang Van Halen Shreds Van Halen Classics at Taylor Hawkins Tribute
Wolfgang Van Halen did his late father Eddie proud tonight (Sept. 3) during the Taylor Hawkins tribute at London’s Wembley Stadium, shredding on lead guitar during renditions of Van Halen’s “On Fire” and “Hot for Teacher.” The younger Van Halen was backed by Dave Grohl on bass and Josh Freese on drums, while The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins handled lead vocals. “It should come as no surprise that Taylor Hawkins was a huge fucking Van Halen fan,” Grohl said before the mini-set. “Didn’t you see those tights he would wear every night? Well, we’re lucky enough to have with us tonight a real Van Halen.” Foo Fighters frequently covered Van Halen in concert, including 12 times during their 2015 tour when “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” was a staple of the set list. Following Liam Gallagher’s opening set t...
Ohio State University Honors Van Halen During Spring Game Halftime Performance
The Ohio State University Athletic Band performed a striking and impressive halftime show in honor of Van Halen last weekend at the school’s spring football game. The game, which is a glorified scrimmage, gives a sense of what’s to come on the field this fall and that includes the band as well. [embedded content][embedded content] The near eight-minute performance included renditions of “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Dreams,” “Panama,” and “Jump.” As the moved in-sync together, the band created Van Halen’s logo, name, David Lee Roth’s 1951 Mercury Eight car, a few song titles, and even a stick figure playing guitar — which was dedicated to the late, great Eddie Van Halen, who died in 2020 at 65 years old after a long battle with cancer. Ohio State first caught the attention of rock fans when t...
Dave Grohl, Greg Kurstin Cover Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ for Fourth Night of ‘Hanukkah Sessions’
On the fourth night of Hanukkah and in the latest edition of the Hanukkah Sessions, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin took on Van Halen’s “Jump.” [embedded content][embedded content] The song is a tribute to Van Halen’s Jewish frontman, David Lee Roth, who was previously immortalized in Adam Sander’s “Hanukkah Song.” The duo has performed covers of “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb, “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones, and “Copacabana” by Barry Manilow this Hanukkah so far, and there are four more nights of anticipating who they may cover next. Last year’s Hanukkah Sessions’ covers had a great range in various genres, and this year (so far) is prominently rock ‘n’ roll filled. But, hey, over here, no one’s complaining. With Kurstin’s helping hand to Adele’s recently released, widely-acclaimed ...
The 40 Greatest Music Video Artists
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since the launch of MTV 40 years ago this week, a select few recording artists have helped raise music videos to an art form — sometimes by accident, and sometimes by carefully curating the work of brilliant directors like Mark Romanek, Hype Williams, and Spike Jonze. Here are 40 artists from the last four decades that helped video kill the radio star. 40. Lil Kim [embedded content] Although earlier female MCs like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah used music videos to help launch th...
The Rising Son
Up a difficult-to-see road, branching off one of the busiest roadways that cuts through Beverly Hills to the San Fernando Valley, is one of the most famous numbers in all of hard rock: 5150. The studio—accessible by navigating several corners of a curvy, gravelly road—sits behind a gate that’s carefully monitored. For the average person, it’s extremely difficult to find—and with good reason: quiet please, genius working. For Wolfgang Van Halen, this is home. In a single-story gray building sits the house that Eddie Van Halen built—and it still feels that way. Beginning with 1984, every Van Halen album has been recorded in this space. Though the mixing console needs to be overhauled (“Damn ’90s technology,” says Matt Bruck, the co-manager of Eddie’s line of guitars, EVH Gear, as we walk int...
Wolfgang Van Halen Declined Invitation to Perform ‘Eruption’ at Grammys
One of the biggest surprises of the Grammys’ new “In Memoriam” segment was that Eddie Van Halen seemed to be ignored as compared to other legends who died in 2020. Though not completely slighted — a guitar sat alone while 20 seconds of “Eruption” played with archival footage of Van Halen was shown in the background. In a tweet on Monday afternoon, Wolfgang Van Halen revealed that the Grammys had bigger plans — including having him perform his father’s legendary 90-second thunderbolt “Eruption.” <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “obj”: {“id”:”25115″,”width”:”480″,”height”:”270″,”playlist”:”10315″,”i...
Michael Anthony Says He and Eddie Van Halen ‘Had Some Issues That Were Never Resolved’
When Eddie Van Halen passed away in Oct., it hit the rock community hard — including his former bandmates. During a recent visit to the Talkin’ Rock With Meltdown podcast, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony divulged that he and EVH had unresolved issues when he died. “We actually hadn’t spoken [for many years], and unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to,” he revealed. “And, you know, it kind of bothers me, because we had some issues that were never resolved. But, I mean, what can you do? We were on track [for] a reunion, which I’m really sad that it never happened. But, you know, life and the show goes on.” Van Halen’s manager Irving Azoff also mentioned that the classic lineup almost reunited in 2019 for a stadium tour; however, it didn’t happen because of Eddie’s health...
Music Video Kids Reflect on Appearances in Iconic Clips: ‘It Was Pure Luck’
Before MTV would be rendered extraneous, record labels would fork over millions for bands and artists to produce memorable music videos that helped build anticipation for an album’s release and propel its sales. The music video became an invaluable promotional tool, and over time, as directors continued to push the limits of what was possible in three to five minutes, the medium evolved into something of its own art form. Today, music videos are largely a lost art, with more skin than substance — more elaborate dance numbers than elaborate storylines. Some of the most memorable videos during the height of the MTV era featured children, and we wanted to know where they are now. SPIN tracked down some of our favorites to see what they’ve been up to since making their marks in some extre...
Eddie Van Halen’s Iconic Guitars Sell for $422,000 at Legend-Studded Auction
Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstrat” is easily one of the most recognizable instruments in rock history, and Kramer Guitars’ early take on the design now belongs to a wealthy new owner. The three instruments sold for a combined $422,050 ($231,250 for the customized Kramer built with guitar tech Matt Bruck at the guitarist’s home studio, $140,800 for his 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series guitar, and $50,000 for a prop guitar from the “Hot for Teacher” video) at the Icons & Idols Trilogy: Rock ‘n’ Roll Auction held by Julien’s Auctions on Wednesday. It was the highest-priced seller out of the nearly 900 available items from a who’s who of music history featuring everyone from Elvis to Lady Gaga, while two of Kurt Cobain’s smashed Fenders sold for a combined $281,600 and Bob Marley’s first gui...
Wolfgang Van Halen on Having a Hit Song, Lessons From His Father and a Prank From Van Halen’s Final Show
For the better part of the decade, when he wasn’t battling aging trolls about his lineage online, Wolfgang Van Halen was carefully crafting his own material outside the band that bore his famous last name. Going deeper into the family business, he decided to use the moniker Mammoth WVH — combining his own initials with a nod to the pre-Van Halen band of his uncle and late father, Eddie Van Halen. This week, Mammoth WVH issued his first song, “Distance,” along with its tearjerking video — featuring home footage of Wolfgang and his father enjoying candid moments, concluding with an intimate voicemail message from the guitar virtuoso. A funny thing happened following the release: The trolls went away, and the song shot to No. 1 on the iTunes music charts, staying there for a...
David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar Would Have Been Part of Van Halen ‘Kitchen Sink’ Reunion Tour
If Eddie Van Halen’s health hadn’t deteriorated, then he — along with singers Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth — would have reunited in a “kitchen-sink tour,” Eddie’s son Wolfgang said. “If only things had been better,” Wolfgang told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show (via Rolling Stone), “it would have been amazing.” Eddie Van Halen died on Oct. 6, following a long battle with cancer. In the interview, Wolfgang admitted that he convinced his dad to think about touring with both Hagar, Roth — and even bassist Michael Anthony, who Wolfgang replaced in 2006. They even reportedly considered bringing out former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone, who sang on one Van Halen album, 1998’s Van Halen II. While there haven’t been any public c...
Ozzy Osbourne Says Eddie Van Halen Once Asked Him to Join Van Halen
In a recent episode of his SiriusXM show, Ozzy Speaks, Ozzy Osbourne told a tale about Eddie Van Halen calling him with an offer to join Van Halen. A potential Oz Halen would have been a “shot in the dark,” but the Black Sabbath icon in lieu of Diamond David Lee Roth or Red Rocker Sammy Hagar obviously did not come to pass. Osbourne recounted the tale: “He phoned me up one time and asked me if I wanted to sing in his band — way after Sammy [Hagar had exited the band]. I think he was a bit drunk,” the singer said, adding, “We’ve all done one of them — calling at four o’clock in the morning, going, [intentionally slurs speech].” In 1978, Van Halen opened for Sabbath, and Osbourne recalled Van Halen’s guitar wizardry with awe. “You think you’ve see...
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