Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

RARE PHOTOS: Van halen | Rare Historical Photos

“I certainly didn’t know how to build a studio. It was all Donn’s magic”: Donn Landee, the engineer who masterminded 5150 Studios, and helped shape Van Halen’s sound, dies at 79

The recording engineer was a key figure in Van Halen’s first eight albums and made Eddie Van Halen's ahead-of-his-time vision for 5150 Studios a reality

Guitar World

“I drove a different Ferrari to the studio every day. David Gilmour and Nick Mason would wait outside to see which one”: How Sammy Hagar tried and failed to become a prog star after falling for Pink Floyd

Montrose and Van Halen frontman regrets that he never got to make his concept album about aliens and space travel under the banner Sammy Wilde And Dustcloud

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

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

“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

“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

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

Guitar World

“He was across the hall and I mentioned my tone troubles to him…” How Steve Stevens saved Steve Vai on his David Lee Roth debut

Vai was a novice at “big rock guitar tones” at the time – but Stevens came to his rescue

Guitar World

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

"We're celebrating the legacy of the music and bringing it to a whole new generation of fans": Sammy Hagar promises "deep dive into the Van Halen years" on Best Of All Worlds tour dates with Rick Springfield

Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff will bring the party to seven cities that aren't Las Vegas this summer

Louder

“In the ’80s, everybody came out with a power ballad – and we had a great one. It was never a No.1 record, but it’s a song that defines that whole era”: How an incredibly unlucky band finally got a break with a soft rock classic

But was that song really about a nun who sells dope to school kids?

MusicRadar

"Be it Eddie Van Halen, Mick Mars or anyone like that, I have such respect for the person that I'm stepping in for." Motley Crue guitarist John 5 reveals the secret to stepping into the shoes of some of the world's most respected guitarists

John 5 has picked up the axe for the likes of Mötley Crüe and Rob Zombie, and he's learned a few lessons along the way

Metal Hammer

Sammy Hagar's Las Vegas residency is 'dream come true for elderly rock star'

Sammy Hagar has declared his Las Vegas residency is a "dream come true for an elderly rock star" as he prepares to bring The Best Of All Worlds show back to Sin City for two more runs next year.

BANG Premier

“I don’t know if Jaco was a Van Halen fan. We were both more intent on getting drunk than anything else”: When Michael Anthony met the self-proclaimed “greatest bass player in the world”, Jaco Pastorius

How the accidental meeting of two of the ’70s and ’80s greatest bass icons – neither recognised by the other – came about in a Tokyo hotel

Guitar World

“If you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there, your career is over”: Nuno Bettencourt reflects on Wolfgang Van Halen's absence at Back to the Beginning

Wolfgang Van Halen reluctantly had to drop out of the historic concert due to scheduling conflicts

Guitar World

“I had to keep Dad in check whenever he made a mistake”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his early gigs with Van Halen – and keeping Eddie in line

Wolfgang also wanted to unearth some B-sides to help honor the genius of his predecessor once he stepped into the role

Guitar World

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Metal Hammer

“Our connection was so special, I would probably be able to feel him if he weren’t here anymore, and I don’t”: Wolfgang Van Halen details his spiritual struggle following the death of his father Eddie

The Mammoth singer/multi-instrumentalist says that losing his father left a “black hole” that made him question his spirituality

Louder

"It's not hard to see why they got left behind by Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon": Praying Mantis fail to surf the NWOBHM wave on Time Tells No Lies

Life at the melodic end of the hard rock spectrum was not always kind

Guitar World

“I thought it was the worst film I’d seen in my life! I was super-embarrassed. But that solo became part of the franchise’”: Stevie Salas on Bill & Ted, playing arenas with Rod Stewart then opening for Joe Satriani, and turning down both Van Halen singers

The ahead-of-his-time guitar great recalls starting a trend followed by Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi, why he had to quit a Joe Satriani tour, and why he sometimes aimed to be the worst player in the room

Metal Hammer

Metallica gave Wolfgang Van Halen a ‘Perfect Attendance Award’ for playing every venue on their 2023 and 2024 tours

Wolfgang’s band Mammoth supported Metallica on every leg of their M72 world tour for two years

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

“Let me see you lay down a groove like Poundcake. That’s harder than getting up there and soloing”: The lead single from Van Halen’s 1991 album with Sammy Hagar combines a thunderous bassline with a revved-up power drill

Michael Anthony’s 16th-note bass grooves remained as much a part of the “Van Hagar” sound as Eddie Van Halen’s guitar pyrotechnics

Guitar World

“I would run across the stage and ‘break’ the bass over my head while our sound guy played samples of trees cracking”: Described as the 4-string equivalent of painting with a sledgehammer, Van Halen’s Ultra Bass was not your typical bass solo

Michael Anthony’s Yamaha BB2000 would get rebuilt after every show following his foundation-shaking solo spot

MusicRadar

“Eddie definitely wasn’t functioning very well during the Van Halen reunion tour in 2004. It was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in my life”: Sammy Hagar’s regrets about his final tour with the band – and his true feelings about David Lee Roth

“Not keeping Van Halen together – that was a failure to me"

Louder

“People deserve to hear that music. And I wouldn’t play it if we didn’t do it justice”: Sammy Hagar announces a UK arena tour – and he’s bringing the Van Halen songs

Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band will hit the UK for four arena dates in July 2026

The Guardian - UK

‘People screamed. Cried. Threw up’: 10 extraordinary life lessons from Ozzy Osbourne’s new memoir

The man who ended up smoking 30 cigars a day after trying to quit cigarettes also comes across in his book as level-headed, self-aware and savagely funny. Here’s what the late rock legend can teach us about addiction, fame and how to choose just the right support act

MusicRadar

“Some riffs just have that big swing to them. You can definitely hear that in the first Van Halen album”: How Wolfgang Van Halen created a new song with echoes of classic VH – and Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer

"It’s very much the kind of idea that mixes heaviness with funkiness”

BANG Premier

Valerie Bertinelli never been on a first date

Valerie Bertinelli has admitted she has never been on a first date.

1 2 3 4 5

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.