When Eddie Van Halen drove a tank through Hollywood to reclaim his guitar
For the most part, the debonair Eddie Van Halen was averse to what you’d typically term rock ‘n’ roll antics. In fact, he once even proclaimed: “If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you’ll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you’ll get to where you want to be.” So, when you came between him and his guitar, he was happy to pull out all the stops, even if they verged on guerilla warfare.
The most remarkable feature of this tale is that the story isn’t a myth. This genuinely happened: Eddie Van Halen was introduced to the rap metal band Limp Bizkit one day simply because it is the sort of thing that happens in Hollywood. They decided to jam together at Bizkit frontman Fred Durst’s house, once again, simply because that is the sort of thing that happens in Hollywood.
Much to Van Halen’s chagrin, things started getting out of hand among the young lads in the Bizkit when illegal substances were suddenly sparked up. This wasn’t Van Halen’s scene, so he bolted. The next morning, he rang Durst to arrange the collection of the guitars and equipment he had left behind, only to be met with an answering machine. He tried again later, he was met with the same result. This continued for 24 hours, with Van Halen growing more enraged with each unanswered phone call.
Extreme situations call for extreme measures, and at the end of his tether, Van Halen was happy to go full commando to reclaim his scared axe like a fucking madman from a historical myth. As Andrew Bennett, the author of Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights with the Genius of Eddie Van Halen, wrote: “Eddie once bought an assault vehicle from a military auction. It has a shine gun mount on the back and is not legal. Eddie drove that assault vehicle through L.A., into Beverly Hills, then parked and left it running on the front lawn of the house Limp Bizkit was rehearsing in.”
The absurdity continues: “He got out wearing no shirt, his hair in a Samurai bun on top of his head, his jeans held up with a strand of rope and combat boots held together by duct tape. And he had a gun in his hand.” Naturally, his guitars and equipment were returned pretty promptly after that, it’s just a shame he didn’t continue his besiege against rap metal at large and seize all the musical instruments on the property.
For Eddie, this was his Taken. As he said of his sacred axes: “A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. I’m very brutal on my instruments, but not all the time.” He’s brutal on those who mistreat them.
