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REVEALED: 2 | Rare Historical Photos

“The thing was lighting up like a toaster. It was glowing red”: Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo didn't set a speaker on fire during the making of Michael Jackson’s Beat It, but an AC/DC issue did

“Something let loose in the amplifier and put out a tremendous power surge,” says engineer Matt Forger

MusicRadar

“I never know what might come across my desk, but this was a taker”: Steve Vai has recorded a new solo over Van Halen’s Jump – which has been crowned the official World Cup 2026 anthem

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker also features on the track

Guitar World

Valerie Bertinelli shares Eddie Van Halen regret

Valerie Bertinelli regrets not being a better friend to the late Eddie Van Halen after their divorce because she understands his struggles more now.

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“Ed was under the same pressure we all were. You can play your old gear, but it sounds old”: Billy Corgan on what drives guitar heroes to change their tone – and how it led him to package his sound in a pedal

The Smashing Pumpkins guitar icon reflects on a tonal journey four decades in the making, what pushes him to make signature gear like the new Laney Supergrace affordable, and why he’s the most excited he’s been to make a guitar album in 25 years

Guitar World

"I remember finishing the lyrics and literally feeling sick to my stomach." How Alter Bridge regrouped, faced the dark side, put their foot on the gas and recorded a brilliant album

With solo projects, other bands and a massive Creed reunion between them, there were whispers that Alter Bridge might be on the way out

Metal Hammer

“David Gilmour says, ‘I will never play with Roger Waters again’, and I know what he means. I feel that way about Alex Van Halen. They’re negative people”: The two iconic musicians who left Sammy Hagar starstruck – and the guitarist he calls “an asshole”

Life according to the Red Rocker

Louder

“It was the most coveted guitar chair in rock. I adored Edward’s playing, so I understood that people would be skeptical”: How Steve Vai lived his ultimate guitar rockstar fantasy on David Lee Roth’s Eat ’Em and Smile

Working with David Lee Roth was like "being strapped to a rocket made of charisma and fueled by tequila” – and the music was pretty fun, too

Guitar World

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“It didn’t sound like a big guitar song, so I wound up playing keyboards. Eddie Van Halen played keyboards on Jump, so I figured I could too”: How Billy Idol seized upon the success of Rebel Yell – and Linn Drums – to take his sound to new frontiers

Steve Stevens remembers the early days of true international stardom, when he and Billy Idol utilized their creative freedom and exciting new tech to make a very different kind of record

Guitar World

“Finish it up as a great instrumental nod to Eddie”: Michael Anthony has his own thoughts on how the “new” Van Halen album should be completed

The former VH bassist has had his say on the upcoming record, which is being worked on by Alex Van Halen and Steve Lukather

Guitar World

“Have I held Frankenstein? Was it a total, Excalibur-level experience? I don't even know how to articulate that, but I got emotional”: Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti on recording at Eddie Van Halen's legendary 5150 Studios

The guitar duo recall the surreal experience of going into the “sacred” studio – and how that impacted the DNA of their latest record

Guitar World

“I am in my acoustic, zen phase of life”: Why Paul Rodgers declined an offer to front the new Van Halen album

Alex Van Halen and Steve Lukather are currently looking for a vocalist to complete their project of reviving archival Van Halen material

Guitar World

“I had to learn how to get the sound. I was just hooked”: Driven by a Van Halen obsession, Jacob Deraps is a YouTube shred superstar on a mission to bring catchy rock ‘n’ roll back to the mainstream

This is the origin story of Jacob Deraps, the player whose brain exploded when he heard Eddie Van Halen for the first time, and he never looked back

Guitar World

“The drums, the guitar and the bass are already in there. What we didn’t have is a vocalist”: Alex Van Halen says a new Van Halen record was virtually finished before Eddie passed away

The Van Halen drummer has also shed more light on Steve Lukather's involvement in the project

Guitar World

Unheard Van Halen material is in progress as Alex Van Halen reveals search for singer

Alex Van Halen and Steve Lukather are on the lookout for a singer for Van Halen's unreleased music.

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Louder

"He locked himself in the studio and threatened to burn the tapes. It was a stand-off for almost a day." How Sammy Hagar helped Van Halen win the war against David Lee Roth

Van Halen lost a superstar singer when Dave Lee Roth quit the band, but new frontman Sammy Hagar and Foreigner's Mick Jones ensured the loss was short-lived

Louder

"They got signed on their talent, on their original material, but also on their looks. They looked like Robert Plant and Jimmy Page." The story of the album that rescued rock'n'roll from the darkness and built a brighter future

Rock was stale, and dinosaurs were lumbering. Then an album arrived that was an effervescent shot in the arm for an entire genre

MusicRadar

“It’s crazy, ambitious and so out of the box. It’s like nothing you’d ever heard before.”: Zakk Wylde picks his favourite Randy Rhoads guitar solo – and explains why Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne were perfect for each other

Plucked from Quiet Riot, Rhoads was the transfusion of virtuosity Ozzy needed to launch his solo career. But Wylde says it goes both ways, and the Prince Of Darkness was the "perfect foil" for Rhoads' classically trained style

Guitar World

“He said, ‘I know Eddie Van Halen. I have enough money that if I wanted to have him play on this, I could. I want you to play on it’”: Pete Evick has played with Bret Michaels for 21 years. Here’s what he learned

He compares the Poison singer to Prince and Trent Reznor in terms of creativity, hails his boss for the freedom he’s given, recalls making early gear choices for the wrong reasons, and says he can only tolerate one Marshall amp – but it’s his all-time favorite

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MusicRadar

“Eddie was always experimenting. Keyboards entered the mix, but it didn’t sound like a keyboard because Eddie played this cheap little Wurlitzer blazing through Marshalls”: Van Halen's Michael Anthony on the band’s cult classic Women And Children First

Less surprisingly, he said “it was party time in the studio”

Guitar World

Alex Van Halen shares rare recording of a young Eddie Van Halen playing guitar to mark the late guitar great’s birthday

The sorely missed guitar legend would have turned 71 on January 26

MusicRadar

MXR's high-gain Eddie Van Halen collab headlines Jim Dunlop's fresh pedal drop – and there's an Iron Maiden Killers Cry Baby too

NAMM 2026: The MXR EVH Modern High Gain Pedal was co-designed with Eddie Van Halen in 2015 and is officially here, and it's joined by a special Way Huge fuzz and some cool Cry Babies

Guitar World

“John's got this toolkit of unwritten rock riffs. I wouldn't say that he’s out and out, AC/DC rock – but he could easily do it”: How John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Dave Grohl channeled Eddie Van Halen on the F1 soundtrack

Mayer, Sheeran and all-star producer Blake Slatkin reveal what went down at the studio after they were approached to write a song for the F1 movie... and the EVH Easter eggs you might have missed

MusicRadar

“I opened the door... he had the guitar in his hands. It was him playing the jazz. I had no idea that he was that good”: Mark Tremonti on Alter Bridge’s “secret weapon” and his soloing strategies for avoiding the same old pentatonic patterns

The self-confessed Dumble “addict” talks all things guitar

Metal Hammer

"In the mid-80s, to get your record played, you had to take the guitar solo out." Radio stations tried to cut Eddie Van Halen's solo from one of his most iconic songs

Iron Maiden legend Nicko McBrain has hosted an epic interview with Alex Van Halen

Guitar World

“We submitted plans for a racquetball court”: Eddie Van Halen's 5150 Studios was decades ahead of its time – but it required a white lie to build

LA homeowners were forbidden by the city's zoning laws to build a home studio on their property. But what's rock 'n' roll without breaking a rule here and there, and sticking it to the man?

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