Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography (39 page)

As it neared show time, though, Edward’s world boiled over. As per Hagar:

He came up to me before the show, when I was talking to Irving [Azoff], and rolled my sleeve down over my tattoo. I didn’t even acknowledge him. I just rolled it back up. He rolled it back down. I rolled it back up. “Don’t be fucking with my shirt, dude,” I said. “That thing ain’t gonna last,” he said, showing me his Van Halen tattoo. “See that? That’s better. That’s going to last longer.”

When Sammy was signing exactly 120 bottles for all 120 members of the crew, Edward suddenly wanted a bottle. Sam went out of his way to get Ed a bottle from his fridge, from which Ed immediately took a few slugs, but Eddie wanted to know why he couldn’t have one of the other bottles, not having processed that Sam was signing a specific number for the entire crew. It was clear that well before show time, Ed was already off in his own very angry world, like a bomb slowly being detonated.

Valerie came with her then-boyfriend/now-husband Tom Vitale to watch Wolfie perform one last time on the tour. Valerie’s brother Pat came to proudly watch his former brother-in-law from the wings of the stage during the last show. During Hagar’s now protracted acoustic segment of the show, Edward angrily approached Pat and exploded on him for no apparent reason at all. Ed then attempted to choke Pat, who was much larger than he was. Valerie wrote in
Losing
It
:

Taken by surprise, Pat defended himself by grabbing Ed’s hand and saying, “You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to do this.” With his free hand, Ed tried to take a swing at Pat. Pat blocked his punch, took hold of both of Ed’s arms, and yelled, “You don’t want to do this!” Fortunately, one of the burly backstage security guards agreed. He grabbed Ed and dragged him away… . By the time I got to the side of the stage, Pat was walking away and Ed was going back on stage. “What the hell happened?” Pat said upon seeing me. “I don’t know,” I said, “You tell me.” “I can’t believe that asshole,” Pat muttered. “He’s out of his mind. Something’s wrong with him.”

The show built up until the very end, and during one his most infamous onstage acts, Edward smashed his main two Peavey Wolfgang guitars. The end of the second smashing was caught on film. During the 22-second clip, Edward has his green guitar with both hands on the neck of the guitar, swinging it directly over is head and smashing the body onto the stage. The neck did not break off of the body, so Edward took the guitar with his right hand on the neck with the body near his feet. Ed then braced himself for a windup and swung the guitar at about 200 degrees, meaning that for the most part the guitar went up backward over his head and landed essentially in the center of the stage. The guitar had some serious hang time and velocity on it. Ed turned around to watch it land, raised his arms above his head and clapped. He then walked over to an open microphone and said something unintelligible and gestured toward Michael and Sammy departing on stage right. He said “Woo!” into the mic, and turned to exit stage left, saluted the audience, clapped, gave a thumbs up, and staggered off stage.

Ion Hobson of
Tucson
Weekly
said:

Seeming to have fallen off the bandwagon yet again, EVH’s mood changed drastically as the final performance ended. Constantly yelling, “That’s it, it’s over,” all night, Eddie made the crowd ponder if another breakup was on the horizon. This was later fueled after “Right Now,” when EVH smashed his guitar repeatedly before swinging his ax, almost nailing Hagar. This immediately drew a “What the fuck?” reaction from his band and the crowd.

Hagar told
Billboard
that he and Eddie almost came to blows after the show. “They just pulled him one way, and me the other,” he said. “We didn’t even say goodbye to each other. It was a horrible way to end the whole thing.” Valerie said that Ed destroyed his dressing room after the show. Later Hagar said, “They tell me he pulled some crazy shit on the plane home… . Some funky shit went down on that plane. My man was completely gone and out of it.” He added, “I never spoke to him again after telling him to keep his hand off my shirt.”

Again, Wolfgang witnessed the whole thing. Valerie was concerned about how Wolfie would take the whole incident, but he seemed to take in stride, for better or worse. For Edward, the culmination of the tour was capped off by a horrific tragedy that hit him hard given the recent contact he had with the victim, which was magnified in Edward’s mind since it happened barely over a week after the Tucson incident.

Ed’s guitar tech for the 2004 tour, Lonnie Totman, gave an extended interview for
Guitars101.com
. “Ed is an interesting person,” he said. “He’s a smart guy and… a person with a big heart. Believe it or not out of any player I have worked with he is the most thankful appreciative guy. He constantly thanks you for all your hard work and lets you know that you’re doing a great job. That means a lot.” When pressed about what took place in Tucson, Lonnie would only say, “I’m not interested in commenting on this with the exception of stating that it had nothing to do with anything gear related. He wasn’t frustrated because something wasn’t working properly.” Ben Italiano, the webmaster of another VH fan site, snagged an interview with Lonnie just a few days later. Prior to start of the chat, Italiano posted the following message: “One thing Lonnie and I both agree is to please do not ask about what went on at the Tucson show. This is strictly prohibited.”

Alex was worried. On December 1, he called up Valerie to tell her that he was planning yet another formal intervention only two weeks after Tucson. His efforts fell apart though, in part due to the tragedy that followed only a week later.

The Death of Dime

On December 8, 2004 (the same day John Lennon was shot and the same day my own brother’s plane crashed), Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott, whom Edward had just met barely two months before, was tragically shot and killed on stage while performing with his and his brother Vinnie’s new band Damageplan. The shooter was a deranged, disgruntled Pantera fan. He killed four people in total before being shot dead by a responding police officer. When the word hit that there would be a public memorial in Arlington near Dallas, Edward hopped a plane and took off.

The voice message from Dime that Edward had saved now took on new significance. Ed felt that his message showed the true Dime and he played it through his cell phone to the audience. “I just wanted to give you a… call to tell you thank you so… much, man, for the most awesome, uplifting, euphoric, spiritual rock and roll extravaganza ever,” Dime said in the voice message.

Edward and Ozzy/Black Label Society guitar legend Zakk Wylde, who was a close friend of Dime’s, were principal speakers at the memorial. They repeatedly downed shots openly during the service, and during one toast, Edward squeezed his tall, plastic shot glass so hard that it shattered into pieces—a moment captured in photograph. In an interview with
Revolver
magazine, Zakk said his grief was compounded by having to deal with Eddie’s “bizarre” behavior. “I don’t know what the hell happened to Ed,” he said. “He hasn’t just gone off the deep end—he’s living in Atlantis! I couldn’t get in a word without being interrupted by him. If I mentioned God, he’d say, ‘There is no God or Jesus, only yes or no.’ It was like he thought the whole thing was about him. He wasn’t thinking about Dime, or even Vinnie and Dime’s old lady, Rita, for that matter.”

Ed’s selfless saving grace, however, was his donation to the burial a few days later. Edward had known that Dime wanted a replica of the black and yellow
Van
Halen
II
guitar, but considering the totality of the circumstances, Edward brought the original guitar itself which was placed inside Dime’s casket. Dime’s wife Rita told
Metal
Monthly
, “When Ed came in at the viewing, he had the guitar, but it wasn’t the guitar we expected… He told Vinnie and I that ‘Dime was an original and only an original deserves the original!’ He popped open the case and there it was… His original ’79 still with the rusted set of strings on it! It was so amazing!!!” She continued, “I took it in to Dime and I said, ‘See, baby, you didn’t get a replica! You got THE one,’ and I gave him a kiss on the forehead and placed it in there with him… Ed was awesome and I thank him still!”

It would take
years
to recover from 2004.

CHAPTER 39 

The Lost Years

If Edward had a few lost years, they were 2005 and 2006. He was essentially in seclusion. Peavey quietly announced that the guitar that was once the Wolfgang was to be renamed the Carina, only to be renamed yet again the HP Special in January 2005. That was the end of the Peavey Wolfgang. Ed would eventually end up where he wanted though—making things himself exactly like he wanted it. Those old Wolfgangs have a cult following and are amongst the most highly sought after guitars on the aftermarket. There are plenty of websites dedicated to devotees of the instrument, with places to enter your serial number and find out all kinds of information about any specific instrument. They hold up well.

Dwyer and Michaels out of Iowa was his only media outlet in 2005. He granted two interviews to the duo throughout the year, and that was all he would say publicly.

On May 11, the duo really nutted up and approached Ed with more aggressive questioning than they had in the past. The early parts of the interview were actually extremely contentious, with the radio hosts serving as fan advocates and saying some pointed things directly to the reclusive genius himself. Excerpts from interview follow with commentary:

DJ: So are you just, are you not interested in… recording rock—

EVH: I’m always recording! [Angry.] Where the hell do you think I am?! If I dropped dead right now, there’d be enough damn music for—pfft—at least twenty, thirty fuckin’ CDs. You know?

DJ: But it shouldn’t take you to
drop
dead
to get it released.

EVH: Hey! You know, it’s like, you know… I can’t do it all myself!

DJ: You could put an album out right now without a singer and it would be huge. Van Halen fans would
love
it. Eddie Van Halen fans
need
it.

EVH: Look, we just finished a damn tour in November!

DJ: I know there was a tour, and that’s great, so put the tour out on disc so people can at least capture it.

EVH: Well, hey, you know—nobody else wanted to do more than
three
songs
! [Very angrily.]

DJ: What do you mean?

EVH: Nobody wanted to do it. You know? I did. I wanted to do a whole record. But, uh…

DJ: You mean
nobody
else
in the band wanted to put out more than three new songs?

EVH: Yeah.

DJ:
Everybody
was against it?

EVH: Well, I said, “Let’s do at least do half and half.” You know?

DJ: And who said no? Sam said no?

EVH:
Well,
who
else
is
in
the
band
?! [Sarcastically.]

DJ: So, you were outvoted three to one?

EVH: Hey, there have been songs that I’ve written that I personally don’t even like that I got outvoted.

[Later in the interview, Ed actually plays and sings a tune over the phone. He’s playing an unamplified electric guitar.]

EVH: No, wait. [He then starts to play pieces of a rather nice chord progression.] Here’s the fuckin’ song, wait… [Eventually, he starts singing along with the riff.] “Death by Hollywood / A little too fabulous for his own good.” [Laughs.] That’s the kind of lyrics I write.

DJ: That’s awesome. That’s Eddie Van Halen. What is, what is the name of that?

EVH: “Death by Hollywood / A little too fabulous for his own good.” Heh-heh-heh!!!

DJ: That’s great. That’s great. And you just wrote that tonight?

EVH: Ah, I guess. It just popped in my head.

DJ: Yeah. I wanna know what kind of wine you like.

EVH: Well, I mean, it’s… Well, okay, now I’m gonna…

DJ: No…

EVH: Now I’m gonna piss everybody off.

DJ: No, who cares.

EVH: No,
’
cause I don’t want
’
em to think… [Edward’s worry was likely that he did not want to admit he had returned to drinking after such public battles in the past. He continued.] Uh… It’s not very expensive, but it’s, uh, it’s very consistent. It’s called Smoking Loon.

DJ: Smoking Loon?

EVH: Yeah.

DJ: We’re all writin’ it down! Okay, Smoking Loon. Where’s it out of?

EVH: Uh, California.

DJ:
’
Cause see I was gonna, I was gonna send you a bottle of wine because you talk to us all the time, but I didn’t know what you like. You like a cab? Or something—

EVH: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s a cabernet.

DJ: Okay.

EVH: Heavy cabby. Cab.

DJ: Heavy cab.

EVH: I don’t, I’m not, I don’t go for that fruity crap, you know?

DJ: Okay. How can we ship it to you?

EVH: Oh, damn. I don’t what my P.O. box number is any more. [Laughs.]

DJ: What’s the address there at the house?

EVH: Oh, come on, I can’t give that out!

DJ: [Laughter.] Well, we’re not gonna give it—

EVH: I got enough, I got enough stalkers already. [Laughs.]

[Later in the interview, Ed discussed the 2004 tour for the first time.]

DJ: Hey, what was it like on that opening night? You guys were in what—North Carolina?

EVH: You know what’s really odd is, last tour, I would just show up at sound check, and I go, “Hmm?
Why
do extra laundry?” So, I would just wear whatever I’m wearin’ and take my shirt off and play. But more importantly, this was the first time ever that I got up on stage and I was not nervous at all.

DJ: Really?

EVH: Yeah. It’s like it was, we were about a month into the tour, and I’d even preface before I started my guitar solo. I’d say, “I’m just gonna F-off, you know? And somebody throw somethin’ at me if you don’t dig it.” You know? I just totally let go, and I was actually writing on the stage. I was just coming up with stuff as I was playing. About a month, three weeks, two months into the tour, Alex, my brother, goes, “Ed, don’t you think you should play
something
off the records?” [Laughter.] Because, you know, I was having so much fun just, just goin’ out there and, not necessarily jerkin’ off, but sometimes, I don’t know… My philosophy is fall down the stairs and hope you land on your feet. And most of the time I did. Sometimes, you know…

DJ: So, the best, the best part of being on stage was when you were improvising a solo for yourself. What is the best part on stage do you think when it comes to connecting with fans out who have come to see you?

EVH: Oh, I was gonna, I was gonna say the other best part is when Sammy’s doing his thing with his little electric palm tree, and, since I’m not married, I’m behind the amps havin’ fun.

DJ: [Laughter.] And it’s not with a bottle of Smoking Mallard or whatever the hell that is. Crazy Loon? Smoking Loon?

EVH: Oh… She be—she be smokin’ something else.

DJ: Okay! Alright!

When Dwyer and Michaels posted the interview clips with Edward, they also posted a recent interview segment from Michael Anthony. “I hate to talk smack about anyone in the band or whatever,” he said, “but, you know… Eddie, you know, he’s, he’s still doin’ a bit of drinking and everything. There were nights where it was kind of like a roller coaster, up or down, and, and, myself, I would’ve like to have seen him totally clean up if we were gonna take this further and like, ’cause, gosh, you know, we could’ve gone all around the world with it.”

Ed was photographed out at a WNBA game with an unknown blonde on August 13. They were taking in the game from the front row, dining on beer and popcorn. Edward was still wearing those same damned, worn-out boots wrapped in gaffer’s tape. It’s possible the boots were the only stable thing in his life at the time.

Opening Up to Dwyer & Michaels

Later in August, Eugenia died at 90 years old. Valerie openly expressed concern for Ed’s well being after having lost his other parent. She wrote:

They had a small, touching ceremony for her on a boat near where they’d said good-bye to Mr. Van Halen. The occasion was extremely sad. I had a lot of fond memories of her… . The boys had her lying in bed. I kissed her on the cheek. After my lips touched her skin, I was struck by how cold her body was.

On October 3, Edward really opened up and gave an overly extensive interview with Dwyer and Michaels. Once again, excerpts from the interview follow with commentary:

DJ: Umm, hey, we got our, our buddy Eddie Van Halen is back on the phone with us. And during that record we were chattin’ about, umm, your help with Big Brothers Big Sisters down in Scottsdale, Arizona. You donated, uh, a painted guitar that, umm…

EVH:
Yee-haw
!!! [Very exaggerated and hilarious.]

DJ: [Lots of laughter.] You’re, you’re ex-brother-in-law asked you if you would be part of this—

EVH: Actually, Stacy, his wife, did. [Ed went out of his way to credit Pat’s wife Stacy, and not Pat whom he had physically attacked in Tucson.]

DJ: Okay, his, his wife. So you’re on speaking terms, then, with, with your former in-laws?

EVH: I’m on speaking terms with anyone that’ll speak with me.

DJ: Okay.

EVH: I’m speaking with you guys, ain’t I?

DJ: [Laughter.] Yeah! And we’re pretty low on the list, right? There aren’t a whole lot of people you’re turning away!

EVH: I wouldn’t say that.

DJ: [Laughter.] So, let’s see—

EVH: That’s not speaking too highly about yourself.

DJ: Right. So your, your guitar was in there with, uh—

EVH: I don’t know who else. All I know is this. My mom passed away a month and a half ago.

DJ: Oh! I’m sorry to hear that.

EVH: Um, well, you know, how much longer do you want to live than 90 years old?

DJ: Depends on quality, I suppose.

EVH: Then I rest my case.

DJ: Okay, so…

EVH: And she rests in peace. But, uh…