Podcaster Joe Rogan recently weighed in on Eddie Van Halen’s legacy and argued that the late guitarist still doesn’t receive the mainstream credit his playing merits, even decades after Van Halen reshaped rock guitar.
Discussing the band’s history on the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan stated the shift from the David Lee Roth era to the Sammy Hagar-fronted years affected how some fans viewed Eddie’s work, as saying Van Halen “became Van Hagar,” leading some original hardcore listeners to move on even as the group became more broadly popular.
“Eddie Van Halen doesn’t get the credit he deserves,” Rogan said. “Well, it’s just Van Halen became Van Hagar and it became a different kind of music and I think a lot of the original hardcore fans left, but a lot I think it got more popular with sure Sammy Hagar, but it was a different kind of music.”
Rogan stressed that he wasn’t attacking the Hagar era as “bad,” but described it as a different kind of music that created a split in the fanbase. He also called the Roth-era lineup “literally a perfect band,” recalling how dominant Van Halen felt to him in high school and how ubiquitous the group’s image and music were among his peers.
“And not that it’s bad, but it’s different. And then I think a lot of people just went nah,” he continued. “But like if you go like to, you know, some of the like big Van Halen with David. I think Van Halen with David Lee Roth in his prime was a literally a perfect band. It was phenomenal. That was they were the sh*t when I was in high school. I mean it was everybody had Van Halen on their notebooks.”
Framing Eddie’s influence against other frequently cited guitar icons, Rogan argued that the guitarist’s ability to “shred so hard” and create classic riffs still isn’t reflected in wider public conversations, where names like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton are more routinely elevated in mainstream rankings.
“They were awesome. And they were so good. And Van Halen and Eddie specifically could shred so hard and some of those classic riffs. I just don’t think in the mainstream world he got the credit that he deserves,” he said. “Well, people mention Clapton, who of course is a great wizard. Always it’s number one is Hendrix. Most people have Hendrix as number one because he was so revolutionary.”
Rogan’s latest music talk follows other recent podcast headlines, including his claim that Ozzy Osbourne suffered an accident during a discussion about health and touring.
Even with Eddie’s long-recognised influence on generations of players, Rogan’s comments underline how debates about “credit” in rock often come down to visibility: the way line-up changes, radio eras, and shifting tastes can reshape which artists remain front-of-mind for the broader public.
