Film composer Tyler Bates recently revealed that Eddie Van Halen was approached to contribute to the John Wick soundtrack near the end of his life. However, he turned down the opportunity due to his declining interest in playing guitar, as reported by Screen Rant.
Bates shared details about his interaction with the legendary guitarist and the circumstances surrounding the missed collaboration. Bates said Eddie visited him and was kind, but it was clear he wasn’t in the right mindset to participate musically. He said,
“At one point, we almost had Eddie Van Halen play on the John Wick theme toward the end of his life. He came over to my place. It was really sweet of him to come over, and he hung out for a while, but I got the sense he was not in the mindset that he really wanted to do anything.”
Tyler Bates explained that Eddie Van Halen was hesitant to play guitar at the time, admitting he hadn’t played in a while. Despite Bates offering to set up everything and even discard the recording if Eddie wasn’t happy with it, Van Halen still declined, though he appreciated the gesture.
“He said he hadn’t played for quite a while. We spoke on the phone a couple of times after he split. Anyway, he called me a number of times. I just said, ‘Look, Ed, you live 10 minutes from me. If you want to do this, I’ll set up a guitar for you, and if you don’t like what we do, I’ll just destroy it in front of you.’ He really appreciated that.”
And while a musical collaboration didn’t transpire, a friendship between the two did bloom. He revealed, “From that point on, the only times we were talking were about his health battles and stuff. I’m imagining he sensed that I’d been through a few things myself, so it was relatable.”
Despite not managing to team up with Van Halen, the composer did recently collaborate with alt-metal juggernauts Evanescence and singer-songwriter K.Flay on the soundtrack to John Wick spin-off, Ballerina.
This missed collaboration represents just one of many potential projects that never came to fruition during Van Halen’s final years. The legendary guitarist battled health issues that significantly impacted his creative output.