KISS frontman Gene Simmons has a notorious reputation for being difficult.
So it might surprise you what he had to say following Eddie Van Halen's death.
Mark Stone was the original bassist for Van Halen, playing alongside Eddie and Alex Van
Halen in the early years of the group, when they were first called Genesis and later Mammoth.
He then played for Van Halen itself from 1972 to 1974.
He was ultimately asked to leave the band due to a perceived lack of commitment on his
part.
In "The Van Halen Story: The Early Years," Stone said he was caught between playing in
the band and pursuing academics.
The others eventually asked him to leave, but even in those first few years of the band's
existence, Stone recognized the talent of the Van Halen brothers.
Stone said,
"I knew it early on that they were both virtuosos.
You know, there were few legendary guitar players, and I knew Edward was on his way
to being there."
While Stone never officially re-joined the band, he sometimes performed with the Van
Halen tribute band, Fan Halen, giving hardcore devotees a taste of what might've been.
Unfortunately, Stone passed away on September 26, 2020.
Michael Anthony was the final member to join Van Halen's first true lineup.
He and his family moved to Southern California when he was young.
As a student at Pasadena City College, he met Alex Van Halen, which led to him playing
bass for them following Mark Stone's ouster, and the rest is history.
A talented musician himself, Anthony was floored the first time he heard Eddie, Alex, and Stone
play live, and was especially impressed by Eddie's ability to master the music of such
guitar greats as Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton.
In his January 8th, 2021 appearance on "Talkin' Rock with Meltdown", Anthony said,
"I remember I was impressed because they must've played the whole Who 'Live at Leeds' [set]
or whatever or any classic Cream stuff they played, Eddie played the lead stuff note for
note […] Back then when you're a kid like that, that's very impressive to see somebody
playing like that."
"We love you, Eddie"
For many fans, David Lee Roth is the voice of Van Halen, singing with the group across
six classic albums.
Like Michael Anthony, Roth also entered Eddie and Alex Van Halen's lives while attending
Pasadena City College.
It wasn't long before he joined forces with them, serving as the face of their party-down
attitude that would typify the band for the rest of his time with them.
It's no secret that Roth and Eddie had a tumultuous relationship, culminating in Roth leaving
the band in 1985 to establish himself as a solo artist.
And while he reunited with Van Halen a few times in subsequent decades, their two powerful
personalities always prevented them from forging any permanent reconciliation.
However, despite the animosity that has characterized their association, Roth, in the wake of Eddie's
tragic passing in 2020, had nothing but kind words to say about his former bandmate.
On his podcast, "The Roth Show," he said,
"Boy, I miss him.
I had a ball with Ed […] I've gotta tell ya, playing with Ed, writing songs with Ed,
presenting those songs with Ed was better than any love affair I ever had."
Sammy Hagar is Van Halen's second singer after David Lee Roth left the band in 1985.
Hagar made a name for himself in the 1970s as the frontman for the hard rock band Montrose,
before branching out on his own.
It was as a solo artist that Hagar became even more popular, scoring such hits as "I
Can't Drive 55."
When he joined Van Halen, the band took on a more polished style that made them perfect
for the growing prevalence of MTV.
Like Roth before him, Hagar had his share of clashes with Eddie Van Halen, which resulted
in him leaving the band in 1996, though they did reunite to record some new songs for the
band's 2004 greatest hits compilation, "The Best of Both Worlds," as well as tour together
to support it.
Luckily, Hagar looks back on his past with Eddie through rose-colored glasses, telling
KUSI's Paul Rudy,
"Eddie always played great.
That's the thing that used to make me mad, 'cause he could drink as much as he wanted,
do anything he wanted and come out there and still play good.
I'd be going, 'This guy is making me mad.'"
Gary Cherone started performing with cover bands in the 1970s before hitting it big in
the late 80s as the lead singer of Extreme.
But he's maybe best known for his very brief stint as the lead singer of Van Halen.
Cherone joined the group following Sammy Hagar's departure and David Lee Roth's disastrous
reunion in 1996.
However, Cherone was only in Van Halen for the 1998 album "Van Halen III " and its tour
before reportedly being forced out by the band's record label.
Still, there were seemingly no hard feelings.
Cherone told Rolling Stone,
"[Eddie] went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.
As the years went on, I saw him do that to everyone else.
He knew people were meeting Van Halen and Eddie; he knew who he was and how people could
get funny around the king.
So I remember on my first day how he extended himself to me, and how he was just a regular
guy."
Wolfgang Van Halen is Eddie Van Halen's son, and he has made quite a name for himself in
the music world.
Born on March 16, 1991, his first gig was taking over Michael Anthony's old bass duties
with Van Halen in 2006, followed by playing bass with Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti's
solo project, Tremonti.
Wolfgang eventually struck out on his own with his band, Mammoth WVH.
While Van Halen fans around the world mourned the death of Eddie in 2020, few were as devastated
by his untimely passing as Wolfgang.
Wolfgang revealed to People that despite how difficult his father's loss was on him, Eddie's
memory has been a source of great motivation for him, saying,
"What really helps me keep going is my dad, because if I just gave up and stopped and
crawled in a hole, which I feel like doing every day, I know he'd be really pissed off
at me.
He's the only thing that keeps me going."
"I think he's the Mozart of our generation."
James Todd Smith, better known as LL Cool J, first rose to prominence in the 1980s as
a young rapper and one of legendary record label Def Jam Recordings' first acts.
He's since gone on to become a hip-hop icon, paving the way for countless other acts to
enter the mainstream while also embarking on a second career as a celebrated actor.
In 2013, LL Cool J recruited Eddie Van Halen for his album "Authentic," appearing on the
songs "Not Leaving You Tonight" and "We're the Greatest."
LL Cool J spoke fondly of his time with Eddie on his outlet Rock the Bells, saying,
"I will always remember his humility, and his willingness to share his talent.
[...] That man came in the studio with me at a time when, creatively, I was trying to
get my sea legs and trying to figure out what to do, and how I wanted to do it.
[...] It was just pure artistry, and I respected that about him."
Gene Simmons needs little introduction; he's been the bassist and vocalist of KISS since
1972, recording and playing with them on all of their farewell and subsequent reunion tours.
Simmons also played an instrumental part in the formative years of another important rock
band: Van Halen.
In the 1970s, Simmons saw them perform at the popular nightclub the Starwood and was
instantly floored; he met them after their set and gave them some useful advice about
the music industry, and even financed their trip to New York City to record a demo.
As a favor to Simmons, Eddie and Alex Van Halen recorded an early KISS demo of "Christine
Sixteen," comprising an informal power trio together.
Simmons was so impressed with Eddie's guitar playing that he had KISS guitarist Ace Frehley
copy the solo he recorded.
Following Eddie's death, Simmons reminisced about his talent in Rolling Stone, where he
stated:
"Lots of guys play fast but with no melody or heart or soul.
Eddie's solos had all that.
Not since Hendrix had anybody bent strings like he did.
He cast a large shadow.
You think you're pretty good and famous and you're filling arenas.
But when you were sitting in front of Eddie, you were in the presence of greatness."
"Every once in a while you meet a real human being that touches your heart, above and beyond
the talent.
What a tragedy."
Brian May is one of the great British rock guitarists, having made a name for himself
with the legendary Queen.
The band dominated the airwaves throughout the 1970s, releasing hit after hit.
It was in the early-1980s that May took a break from Queen to work on his solo project,
the mini-album "Star Fleet Project," which featured an appearance from none other than
Eddie Van Halen on the track "Blues Breaker."
Of course, May had encountered Eddie several years earlier when Van Halen was opening for
Black Sabbath.
May recounted to Guitar World,
"I got there in time to see Van Halen and I was utterly blown away by Eddie.
I just thought: I've never seen anything like this in my life.
It was almost too much to take in.
I remember thinking: I don't want to believe this.
It was similar to watching Jimi Hendrix for the first time."
Thomas Dolby is a singer, songwriter, producer, session musician, and composer who's most
associated with the early-1980s new wave sound.
He wrote several hit songs for other musical acts, including "New Toy" for Lene Lovich,
and helped forge the synth fad of the era by playing synthesizer for such acts as Foreigner
and Def Leppard.
But Dolby really came into own with his 1983 hit "She Blinded Me with Science."
One of Dolby's more interesting projects was his 1992 album, "Astronauts & Heretics," which
saw Eddie Van Halen tear it up on the songs "Eastern Bloc" and "Close But No Cigar."
It's not the most obvious musical pairing, but Dolby told Ultimate Classic Rock that
the two got along well, and found a way to marry their two completely different creative
backgrounds.
"I loved jamming with him, and I think he enjoyed it, too.
[...] It's a shame that his talents have been sort of limited for the most part to the Van
Halen albums, because he's got a lot more versatility and range than you would know,
[even as] fantastic as his playing on his own albums [is]."
Steve Lukather is one of the most prolific session musicians alive.
He found success with his first band Toto when they released their debut album in 1978,
which spawned such hits as "Hold the Line," and he also played on hit records for the
likes of Boz Scaggs, Cher, and Alice Cooper.
Lukather also lent his musical talents to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," one of the best-selling
albums of all time.
Lukather eventually made his solo artist debut with 1989's appropriately-titled album, "Lukather,"
which featured the contributions of several top musicians, most notably Eddie Van Halen.
Lukather told Guitar World,
"[Eddie was] just a humble little guy who just loved to mess with s–t and do things
different [...] When it came down to details about equipment and how he liked to do things,
he always had an 'adventure' mentality.
He knew what he wanted.
And he wanted really weird s–t."
Tony Iommi is one of the godfathers of heavy metal as a founding member of Black Sabbath,
playing with the band from their formation in 1968 until their disbanding in 2017.
Eddie Van Halen was actually briefly a part of one of the band's formations, having recorded
a solo for the song "Evil Eye" from Black Sabbath's 1994 album "Cross Purposes."
Unfortunately, the recording of said solo had some technical difficulties and was unusable,
as Iommi recalled in his autobiography, "Iron Man."
But Iommi and the rest of Black Sabbath had actually encountered Eddie and his band years
earlier, when they toured together in the late-1970s.
Iommi told Rolling Stone,
"Ed's such a lovely guy.
We really got to know each other well on that tour.
He used to come around to my room most nights after the show.
Or I'd go around to his room and we'd sit there talking.
We used to have such a great time together.
We really spilt our hearts out with each other."
Clearly, Eddie Van Halen is missed by many.