John 5 says all former Van Halen members should attend hypothetical Eddie Van Halen tribute concert

During an appearance on the “Talking Shred” podcast old MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 reflected on the death of the legendary BY HALEN ax man Eddie Van Halen almost exactly a year ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Me, like millions of others, he was my favorite. It’s weird – I’m so upset too, because it’s, like, ‘God, can’t we do anything to save him? ‘

“Eddie was so special “, John 5 continued. “It’s really rare to have someone so special. Now everyone who listens and watches this can totally agree with me – I mean, the best guitarist, such an amazing inventor, such an amazing songwriter. And he had it all. And he was something special; he was touched by God. And we don’t have many Edouard Van Halens – not only in music, but in anything. In sports – it’s like Michael jordan, or in art it is like the Picasso. And we don’t have many. And I’m just happy that we have what we have. I just wish there was something like … All the great minds in the world, ‘Listen, Eddie Van Halen is sick. Can we do nothing to save him? He’s, like, everything. And it breaks my heart. But I’m so thankful for what we got, the music, the guitars and the amps, everything. He was a real genius, and I was happy and lucky enough to know him. And he was just a good soul. It was so devastating. It really messed me up, like everyone else. It’s hard to listen to him, but you listen to him and you’re like, “Man, he was just something very, very special.” He was the Mozart in our time. It’s just awful. It’s just a terrible, terrible thing. “

John 5 also discussed a hypothesis Eddie Van Halen tribute concert, saying, “If there’s a show – what there has to be, there has to be – if I’m not on stage, I’ll be in the front row. I think that’s something which absolutely must happen with Everybody. I think everyone should be there – I think Dave [Lee Roth] should be there, Sammy [Hagar] should be there, Mikey [Anthony] should be there, Wolfie [Van Halen], sure, Alexis [Van Halen]; everyone who was part of that BY HALEN history – and all fans around the world, and congratulate, appreciate and love the master, Edward. It just has to happen. I think that would be a wonderful thing. “

John 5 has already talked about how he was affected by Eddie Van Halenpassed away a year ago while appearing on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk”. At the time, he said: “We all knew that Eddie was not well, but he is like our Superman, ” John 5 noted. “[We all thought] ‘Eddieit’ll be OK. We saw it at TOOL concert. He’s going to beat that. Everything will be alright. He is our Superman. ‘ And when this news came I was talking to Fred coury [CINDERELLA], and I said, ‘I have to go.’ I just hung up and had to pull over on the freeway. I just couldn’t believe it. I was just shocked. It’s just the worst news, the worst. Because we listened to it every day; we saw his photo every day; he’s been a part of our lives since the late 1970s, and now he’s gone. But he changed the world forever, that’s for sure. “

John 5, who had her first big break playing on David lee roththe solo album of, “DLR tape”, before landing with Manson and now Zombie, said he first learned Eddiedeclining health BY HALEN singer.

“I talked to Roth awhile ago, and he was like, ‘Yeah, Eddieit’s not going well,'” John 5 recalled. “And I remember setting there in his place, and I started to stand up, I started to cry. I was like, ‘Okay, get yourself together.’ Because it’s you hear it from someone who’s close to Ed. I was like, ‘Alright. Keep it together. ‘ Because I was shocked. I was like, ‘Oh my God. It can’t be. ‘”

John 5 confirmed he knew Eddie personally after meeting the BY HALEN guitarist nearly three decades ago.

“I haven’t talked much about it,” he said. “But I spoke to Ed a lot on the phone. We sat on the phone for a long time. I don’t really talk about it, but we would sit on the phone and chat for a long time, tell stories and talk about guitars and bands, and it was always positive. “

“I think I first met him in ’93 through Robert knight, the photograph. It was kind of a nice touch – “Hello, how are you?” – at events and others. But then it got a little closer when I started playing with it Dave and Manson and all. But yes, he gave me a guitar; I gave him one of mine. We were pretty close – not great, super close like I am with Dave Where Mike [Anthony] or something like that. But he knew – I would always tell him how much he meant to me and how much he meant to a million other guitarists. “

Elaborate on what made Eddieplay the guitar so special, John said, “The thing about Ed is – people who don’t play guitar don’t understand this – he looked at the instrument differently, just like [Apple co-founder] Steve Jobs would look at a different computer or something; [American inventor Thomas] Edison would look at something different. And that’s what was so special, and that’s why we lost such a giant, such an important figure in music.

“I would go down to BY HALEN rehearsal and I would take his guitar and play through his rig, and I wouldn’t sound anything Eddie Van Halen even though I played a BY HALEN song, ”he explained.“ And it’s the difference, because that’s what’s in you. These are the hands; it is that feeling. It’s like trying to describe the color blue. It’s a feeling, and it’s something that you have. And I don’t know if we’ll ever have this again – ever. “

A video of John 5 take over BY HALENthe version of “You really got me”, with BY HALEN‘s Michel Antoine on bass, NOOSE‘s Corey taylor singing and CINDERELLA‘s Fred coury on battery, you can see it below.

Eddie passed away on October 6, 2020 at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer. His death was announced by his son Wolfgang.

Eddie and Alexis form BY HALEN in 1972 in Pasadena, California, with Roth singing and Antoine on bass.

BY HALEN was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Rolling stone classified magazine Eddie Van Halen No.8 in his list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

After undergoing hip replacement surgery in 1999 due to a chronic joint problem, Eddie was diagnosed with oral cancer in 2000 and had to have part of his tongue surgically removed. He then battled throat cancer and reportedly received radiation therapy in Germany.