Sammy Hagar recently shared another memory regarding Eddie Van Halen and it focused on a side of the late musician that was sometimes overshadowed by his legendary guitar playing.
Hagar responded to an Instagram post about Eddie’s abilities on piano. He said he had always considered Van Halen just as impressive on keyboards as he was on guitar.
“I always said he was as good a piano player as he was a Guitar player obviously, his innovation and first love was Guitar but every time I sat down with Eddie at a keyboard to write a song it was always a whole different experience than jamming on guitars.”
Hagar’s comments also highlight a side of Eddie Van Halen’s musical background that casual fans may not realize. Long before becoming one of rock’s most influential guitarists, Eddie studied classical piano alongside his brother Alex. Although he later admitted he never became comfortable reading music conventionally, those early lessons helped shape his abilities as a keyboard player.
Keyboards eventually became an important part of Van Halen’s sound. Eddie’s playing was famously front and center on “Jump,” while keyboards also featured heavily on songs such as “I’ll Wait,” “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Dreams,” “Love Walks In” and “Right Now.”
That evolution wasn’t always embraced by the band’s audience. Some fans preferred Van Halen’s harder, guitar-driven sound and associated the increased use of keyboards with the band’s more melodic direction. Hagar, however, has previously rejected suggestions that he pushed the group toward that style, maintaining that experimenting with keyboards was something Eddie himself wanted to pursue.
