For as much as Eddie Van Halen is praised by peers and fans, and rightfully so, the iconic guitarist wasn’t shy to heap praise on the bands he himself loved. Eddie was a fan of AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Cream and Jeff Beck, among others.
He was also a big fan of Deep Purple, and on a recent episode of “That Rocks,” former Deep Purple bassist/singer Glenn Hughes revealed he was nearly asked to join Van Halen following the exit of original singer David Lee Roth.
“So the story is I was at Eddie’s house in the early ’90s,” Hughes explained. “And if I may say so, Eddie was newly sober at that point. And we had a conversation about stuff from the ’80s.”
“Eddie’s manager, Noel Monk, was my tour manager in Trapeze back in the early ’70s. So Eddie said they were thinking about me prior to asking Sammy to come in. But the thing that stopped it was I wasn’t the man I am today in the mid-’80s, as you know; we all know that now. So he thought maybe it would have been a good idea, but would Glenn be the right guy? Was he steady to do that?”
“And they got Sammy in. So we’ll never know. But it was an honor for Eddie to think that, you know, he would invite me to at least come down and have a sing. So, yeah, it would have been very, very interesting. But Eddie was very close, and I miss him dearly.”
Hughes also talked about the first time he saw Van Halen. “1978 Thanksgiving, I found myself in Dallas, Texas,” he said. “And I went to see Black Sabbath, and there was an unknown band on the bill called Van Halen.”
“I had not heard of them. They maybe had made a record. So I went down to the show early and I stood at the side of the stage, and lo and behold, I see this incredible band and this amazing guitar player. And, of course, their manager was my ex-tour manager. When they came off the stage, Noel Monk introduced me to the guys, and Eddie took me into a room and he had his guitar and he played some stuff to me. And ever since that day, Thanksgiving in ’78, Eddie and I became very close. So throughout the years we’d get together often. He was over my house a few times, and we were we were good friends.”
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