Joe Satriani recently revealed that David Lee Roth approached him in the mid-’90s about forming a band to perform Van Halen songs.
Speaking to Thinking About Guitar, Satriani explained that Roth pitched the idea at a time when Eddie Van Halen was still actively recording and touring. He found the proposal difficult to justify.
“In the mid ’90s, David Lee Roth called me; he wanted to put together a band to do Van Halen songs,” Satriani said.
“He went on and on about how we were the only guys who could really do it right, and he had all these crazy plans.”
Satriani then pushed back on the idea, pointing out that imitating a living, working artist made little sense to him.
“I said, ‘But Dave, Ed’s still alive! He’s still making amazing records. He’s still on tour. What guitar player would ever try to imitate him while he’s still working? It makes no sense,’” he continued. “Of course, I said, ‘Look, I’m not the guy.’”
Satriani also said that the conversation took on a different tone years later after Eddie Van Halen’s passing in 2020. He still had reservations about stepping into the role.
“When he and Alex called me after Ed had passed away, it made a little bit more sense,” Satriani said. “Even though I tried to convince them I was not the person who could do it justice.”
Rather than simply declining, Satriani had pointed Roth and Alex toward two other names he felt were more fitting choices: his former student Steve Vai and Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme.
It is worth noting that both guitarists had deep roots in the hard rock world and were widely regarded as among the few players capable of honoring Eddie’s style with credibility.
Satriani maintained that Eddie Van Halen’s playing was so singular that no outside guitarist could genuinely replicate it. Attempting to do so, he argued, would fall short of what fans deserved.
