A Quote by Eddie Van Halen

When Van Halen started out, there was no path to fame. We just played what we liked. Even today it always comes down to the simplicity of rock and roll. — © Eddie Van Halen
When Van Halen started out, there was no path to fame. We just played what we liked. Even today it always comes down to the simplicity of rock and roll.
My heroes were Eddie Van Halen - especially after Van Halen I, II, III, and IV - Randy Rhoads, Ace Frehley and dudes like that. My brother played drums and we jammed in the garage and started writing our own stuff.
I've heard my share of Van Halen. I never liked rock.
I do remember being a kid and hearing Van Halen. My dad was always playing Van Halen in the car.
Rick Nielsen, Angus Young. Huge Eddie Van Halen fan when I was younger. Jimmy Page is an enormous one who impacts me. When you grow up with classic rock like that and then you get into punk rock, you defy your roots and where you came from. I never really went through that. Even when I started listening to the Clash or the Sex Pistols, I still always listened to Led Zeppelin or Kiss.
I have absolutely no interest in rock and roll. I'm just being David Bowie. Mick Jagger is rock and roll. I mean, I go out and my music is roughly the format of rock and roll, I use the chord changes of rock and roll, but I don't feel I'm a rock and roll artist. I'd be a terrible rock artist, absolutely ghastly.
No matter what though, there's always rock & roll. There's rock 'n' roll in hip-hop, there's rock & roll in pop music, there's rock 'n' roll in soul, there's rock 'n' roll in country. When you see people dress and their style has an edge to it, that rebellious edge that bubbles up in every genre, that's rock & roll. Everybody still wants to be a rock star.
To me, the secret of Eddie Van Halen was Alex Van Halen, because the way Alex played was so loose and the way the two of them locked together... Those two are connected so thoroughly they might as well be one person.
I had a solo career before Van Halen. My fan base filtered through Van Halen with me and came right on out the other side with me.
I really don't feel the need to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because, at the end of the day, it's just somebody's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They have a particular process, and they're welcome to do it however they want to do it.
I liked a lot of the things other people liked - Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Van Halen, AC/DC - but if I compared it to my dad's music, there just seemed to be elements missing.
Van Halen was a huge influence on me, and 'Eruption' was the song that really leaped off that first Van Halen album.
Most of the people who are given these Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame things sell millions of records, so it's kind of like a trophy for them. But for the Ramones, it really was a symbolic gesture of, 'Yes, you guys are special and are important to rock n' roll.' So in that sense, the Roll Hall of Fame served its purpose.
At some point I decided I didn't want to learn any more guitar technique. I was at that level where the next mountain there was to climb was Van Halen and I didn't really like Van Halen.
That song ["Don't Tell Me"] didn't take us anywhere, and I know why now. It wasn't what Van Halen fans wanted. It showed the darkness of Van Halen, and basically the end of the band.
My father hated rock and roll - hated it. My first real argument with my father was over the Rolling Stones. And he never, ever liked rock and roll. He just liked me.
Just about every rock band and every guitar player from 1964 to 1984. To me, that's the golden period of rock. From the first Beatles album hitting America to the last Van Halen album with David Lee Roth. That's where all my favorite rock exists.
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