David Lee Roth doesn't mince words when it comes to what's kept Van Halen from playing Australia in recent years. The group announced they'll play the Stone Festival in Sydney this April. Roth suggests they'd tour the world regularly if it were up to him.
Growing up in one of rock's preeminent musical families with a classical composer's first name, Wolfgang Van Halen was probably destined to be a musician before he was big enough to pick up a bass -- but as he pointed out during a recent interview, he says that was still able to find his own path.
Van Halen will bring their hard rock thunder "Down Under" this April, alongside classic rock icon Billy Joel, when they will headline Australia's inaugural Stone Music Festival.
There's once again drama in the world of Van Halen, with singer David Lee Roth complaining about a recent lack of activity and communication within the band, and openly calling for a reunion with original bassist Michael Anthony.
Hard rock hadn’t really hatched a band like Van Halen before 1978. There were groups with guitar heroes. There were metal bands that covered ‘60s classics with new-style flash. And there were corny frontmen with overeager libidos. But they were never tossed together into one simmering pot made up of part dinosaur stomp, part lightning-fast guitar acrobatics and part Hollywood arrogance before Van Halen’s self-titled debut album was unleashed.
Discretion is definitely the better part of valor (not to mention job security) when you're part of the crew surrounding a band of young rock hedonists at their peak, and former Van Halen director of security Ed Anderson must have a million stories he he'll never tell. But that doesn't mean he won't share a little of what he's seen.
Eddie Van Halen didn't even get a mention on Michael Jackson's mega-smash album 'Thriller,' which celebrates it's 30 year anniversary today (Nov. 30), despite having a heavy hand in the success of the third radio single. The guitarist says he did the solo on 'Beat It' for free -- and even wound up re-arranging the song while Jackson was out of the room.
Van Halen fans around the world wound up being disappointed when the group cut their tour in support of their recent album 'A Different Kind of Truth' short after guitarist Eddie Van Halen underwent emergency surgery. But things appear to be looking up, as the band have booked three new dates for the summer of 2013 to replace the shows they had to cancel in Japan.
Legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen had a serious health scare recently, forcing Van Halen to cancel all of their scheduled shows until next year. But the musician showed up to watch his son Wolfgang play bass at a Tremonti gig in Kansas City Wednesday night (Oct. 3), looking healthy and relaxed.
The last time Michael Anthony was on 'That Metal Show,' his former Van Halen (and current Chickenfoot) bandmate Sammy Hagar didn't feel his friend went into quite enough detail about his departure from one of rock's most famous and successful bands.
Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen recently landed a new gig playing in Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti's road band, and now fan-shot video footage of the young rocker's first performance with his new group has emerged online.
