“There ain’t nothing wrong with it, man”: The only guitarist considered to be Eddie Van Halen’s rival
When it comes to hard rock and heavy metal guitarists, there haven’t been many more virtuosic or innovative than Eddie Van Halen. Hailed by many as the greatest guitarist within his field, his style and techniques have been emulated by many, but so few are able to pull off his signature moves with the same level of panache or fluency. As showy as it might have appeared, you simply can’t knock him for his raw talent.
While many guitarists have been inspired by this flashy style that incorporated fretboard tapping and various other never-before-seen techniques, with other technically minded players such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai emerging in the years following Van Halen’s rise to fame in the 1970s, plenty of others were less than enamoured with him and either considered him an arrogant showoff or a bitter rival.
Among those who didn’t take kindly to Van Halen’s supposed superiority was none other than Randy Rhoads, the legendary metal guitarist best known for being a member of Ozzy Osbourne’s backing band in the early ‘80s and as a co-founder of the American band Quiet Riot. While many of the techniques that he employed were similar to those that Van Halen popularised, such as the tapping and complex solos, Rhoads felt there was some contention from people who thought he was simply ripping off Van Halen.
One of those critics was Van Halen himself, who can be heard saying in an audio recording uncovered for the documentary Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon that “everything he did he learned from me” and that “he was good, but I don’t think he really did anything that I haven’t done.” This might sound like a harsh accusation, but Van Halen was quick to point out that he was also guilty of stealing his signature moves from other guitarists, such as Genesis’ Steve Hackett, noting, “There ain’t nothing wrong with it, man. I’ve copied other people.”
Osbourne would comment further on this feud between the two guitar titans in an interview with Rolling Stone, stating, “I heard recently that Eddie said he taught Randy all his licks… he never. To be honest, Randy didn’t have a nice thing to say about Eddie. Maybe they had a falling out or whatever, but they were rivals.”
However, the true nature of this rivalry is certainly one that can be debated because in an age where so many prodigious players were vying to be seen as the best, they’d have to find ways of constantly trying to trump their competitors. If anything, it wasn’t a bitterness that caused this, but a constant desire to remain as the leader of the pack. Documentary maker Andre Relis explained in an interview promoting his film that “Eddie would come check out Randy quite a bit, and watch him play, and there seemed to be some sort of competition between Randy and Eddie,” before declaring: “I think that Eddie, in my opinion, thought of Randy as a threat.”
What’s even more interesting is that Osbourne attesting to the notion that Rhoads hated Van Halen’s guts was complete nonsense and simply a fabrication of how he felt towards the guitarist. In a 1982 interview with Guitar World, Rhoads went out of his way to acknowledge that he did use some of Van Halen’s techniques in order to develop himself. “I have my own personality on the guitar but as of yet I don’t think I have my own style,” he told the publication. “For instance, I do a solo guitar thing in concert, and I do a lot of the same licks as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie is a great player, but it kills me that I do that.” So much for not having a nice word to say.
