Eddie Van Halen: what Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, Jake E. Lee, Leslie West, and brother Alex told me about “the king”

By Steve Newton

One of the biggest regrets of my career in rock journalism–and there aren’t that many, believe it or not–was never getting the opportunity to interview Eddie Van Halen.

I did get to chat with his big brother Alex once, and he gave me a really great interview, but it just wasn’t the same.

I wanted Eddie.

The closest I ever got to knowing him was a handshake backstage after a Van Hagar stadium show in Vancouver in 1986.

But I have talked to some other impressive musicians about him, so that’ll have to do.

Allan Holdsworth, 1983: “A lot of rock guitar players are just flash, but Eddie’s thing seems to have evolved completely naturally, on its own. And I respect anybody who can do that.”

Steve Vai, 1990: “I had too much respect for Edward [to try and fill his shoes with David Lee Roth]. I mean, I was just as big a fan as anybody else—Edward is the king! I loved playing Van Halen songs, but I couldn’t compare myself to him—it’s not what I want hanging over my head when I perform. I just wanna be me, you know, and let him be him. But there were a lot of people who resented me at first. It was like, ‘Who’s this guy who dares to take over for Edward!?’ ”

Jake E. Lee of Badlands, 1992: “In the ’70s, I remember hard rock got pretty boring and predictable, and that’s when I started playing fusion. I wasn’t real happy with that either, after a while. Then Van Halen came out and gave it a big shot in the butt, and that’s what made me want to start playing hard rock again.”

Leslie West of Mountain, 2002: “Eddie and I are really good friends—in fact, he recently sent me some new amplifiers that he designed, and a guitar. So I’m always interested in hearing what he’s doing. And I just love Eddie to death; I mean, he got me playing again. In the ’70s I had stopped playing when I went to rehab, and he was the first guy I saw that really inspired me to start up again.”

Alex Van Halen, 1995: “After about a week or two we decided to change [instruments], because I didn’t care for the guitar and Ed didn’t care for drums. I had taken flamenco lessons and all that, and I could read, but there was no connection between me and the instrument. To me it was just a piece of wood with metal strings. But when Ed picked it up, he just connected with it instantly; it was as if it was meant to be there all along.”

To hear the full audio of my interviews with Allan Holdsworth, Steve Vai, Jake E. Lee, Leslie West, and Alex Van Halen subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with musicians since 1982.