MUSICIANS MOURN TRUE ROCK LEGEND
AUSTRALIAN musicians have hailed guitar hero Eddie Van Halen as a rock game-changer.
Van Halen passed away on Wednesday at age 65 after a long battle with tongue cancer.
His guitar work was the backbone of Van Halen, who formed in 1972 and scored global hits with Jump, Panama, Why Can’t This Be Love, Hot For Teacher and Dreams.
Dave Leslie befriended Van Halen when his band, Baby Animals, opened for the American band on a US tour in 1992. “As a modern rock guitar player you can’t not be influenced by Eddie. He was my guitar hero,” Leslie said.
Van Halen would spend most show days in the Baby Animals’ dressing room, jamming with Leslie on AC/DC songs. “Ed loved Angus, knew all the solos note for note, he always wanted to play AC/DC,” Leslie said.
“One night, at the end of the first leg, he came in with a guitar, a beautiful red EVH guitar. I said ‘Is that your new guitar?’ and he said, ‘No, it’s your new guitar’ — and I played the shit out of that thing for the next five years.
“It was formidable to watch them night after night, there’s a reason why he’s Eddie Van Halen, he was that f...king good. He’s renowned for his face melting solos, but he was also a monster rhythm player, the knowledge of music he had was incredible. Their music gave you chills.”
Promoter Michael Gudinski scored Van Halen’s only full Australian tour, in 1998, with Gary Cherone on vocals after the departure of David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. The band played a Sydney-only show, with Roth, in 2013.
“They definitely underplayed Australia,” Gudinski said. “I’d been trying to get them to come to Australia for years. Eddie was a true musician. He was so adventurous, not only with Van Halen but that incredible solo on Michael Jackson’s Beat It. Eddie was rock royalty, like a Jimmy Page or a Jimi Hendrix.”
Gudinski was managing Jimmy Barnes in 1985 when the Australian rocker was propositioned by Van Halen.
“We were recording Working Class Man in America,” Gudinski said. “Eddie came and asked Jimmy to join Van Halen.
“Jimmy wasn’t prepared to go and live in America but it was a huge compliment.”