Suppose you’re a long-time admirer of Eddie Van Halen. In that case, it’s safe to say you’re well familiar with his public persona, which was broadcast via countless live performances, music videos, and interviews in guitar publications throughout his career. But the question remains how he was out of the spotlight
Steven Rosen, a friend of Van Halen and author of the book “Tonechaser,” spoke to Igor Paspalj about the legendary guitarist and uncovered what he was really like when he was off the road.
“He was a pretty complex person,” Rosen admitted.
“He was like this onion and you peel back layers, there’d be another layer. The longer I sort of knew him and hung out with him, I realized ther were more facets to his personality. Music was first and foremost and everything for him. I mean, I know you’ve heard it before, but with him it was everything.”
“There was never a single moment when I was with him that he truly did not have the guitar in his hand. So, he’d come over to my pad, and as you mentioned, I was a guitar player. Not a very good one, but I had always had a couple guitars.”
In addition to his fondness for always having a guitar in hand, Rosen also remembered a “terrible habit” that Van Halen was apparently always indulging in.
“So, he’d come over, and the first thing he did was walk in the house, and either he had a cigarette that was lit…and that’s the other thing that was always happening. He always had a cigarette in his hand, which was kind of a terrible habit, but hey. Anyway, he always had a cigarette in his hand. And so the first thing he’d do is either he’d light a cigarette and had a cigarette in his hand, he’d go over and pick up a guitar and start noodling. Every single time.”
Rosen then added what it was like when visiting Van Halen at his home and at his 5150 studio. And how he knew when it was time to scram.
“And whenever I went over to this place in Coldwater Canyon and he was out in the studio, he was always sitting in the chair and having a talk. He was playing, he was changing strings. It was always about the guitar. There was two sort of major modes with Edward — it was the hanging out with my friend Edward, and there was Edward in musician mode.”
“When he was in the musician mode and he needed to work, he needed to be by himself. It was almost an unspoken thing. I mean, I could sense it. He’d kind of be playing, and you kind of look over, and I just knew it. ‘Hey man, I’ll see you later.’ So, I was always aware of that. For Edward, respect was a huge thing. And if you disrespected him, he held on to that for a very long time.”
