• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

TOMMY LEE: EDDIE VAN HALEN Was 'One Of The Most Innovative, Incredible Guitar Players Of Our Time'

October 16, 2020

In a new interview with USA Today, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee spoke about the recent passing of legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen. He said: "I'm still in shock about that. Three weeks ago, I was hanging out with [former VAN HALEN singer] Sammy Hagar and he didn't mention anything about it. I assumed he had gotten the cancer taken out, and he was on the up and up. But man, what a sad thing. We literally lost one of the most innovative, incredible guitar players of our time. By far."

Asked if it's true that MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil once bit Eddie, Tommy replied: "Yes. We were all on the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour [in 1984]: AC/DC, VAN HALEN, MÖTLEY CRÜE. We were all partying, and MÖTLEY had this thing we would do if we really loved you: Some people high five, other people hug, we would bite you. Vince went over and just chomped on Eddie and Eddie was so mad. He was, like, 'What the (expletive) is wrong with you?' He wasn't very receptive to it. I bit Malcolm Young [of AC/DC], and he hated it, too. We did that for a couple of years until we were either over it or realized it might be a little dangerous."

Eddie died on October 6 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with Wolfgang, and Alex, Eddie's brother and VAN HALEN drummer.

A few hours after Eddie's death was announced, Tommy took to his Instagram to share a few photos of him with the guitarist, and he included the following caption: "RIP to my friend and man who changed guitar playing forever ...FUCK!!! no words".

Find more on Van halen
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).