Van Halen and the 2007 Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame

On Monday night March 12 2007 the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inducted its new class of artists. The Ronettes, Patti Smith, REM, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted. The other big name of the 2007 RHOF class was Pasadena's own Van Halen.

As a young guitar slinger growing up in the early 1980s, I was pretty well bowled over by Eddie Van Halen's sound. I often relate it as the musical equivalent of seeing a Corvette for the first time. Eddie's sound was quite possibly the coolest sonic experience I had up to that point (how does he make it sound like an airplane? I asked myself).

Anyhow...suffice it to say that through out my junior high, high school and college years I followed the band (I liked the Hagar years best, BTW). I was stunned to see them fire Hagar in 1996, and even more stunned by Gary Cherone and Van Halen III in 1998, although I was willing to give Eddie the benefit of the doubt.

Well here we are after several failed reunions later. Much juggling of personnel has seen Van Halen reunite with Roth twice and Hagar once, all failures. So it appears that the lyrics to "Why Can't This Be Love" have rung true. The public has known that Eddie Van Halen has struggled with alcohol for years. The Hagar reunion tour of 2004-05 was marked by erratic and loose performances by Eddie, and some rumblings that the guitar hero might be back on the bottle.

Well in the January and February of this year, we heard that at long last Van Halen was going to reunite with old singer and foil extraordinaire David Lee Roth. Furthermore, loyal fan favorite Michael Anthony was booted in favor of Eddie's son Wolfgang. Many smelled trouble in paradise from the get-go, and they were right. Van Halen's tour with Roth was supposed to coincide with the band's 2007 induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction. In true soap opera fashion, the whole thing imploded just before it began...

The Friday before the RHOF ceremony, Eddie announces that he is entering rehab for alcoholism treatment. David Lee Roth is perturbed that he has to share the stage with Velvet Revolver who is inducting VH at the ceremony. Alex Van Halen chooses to stay home with his brothers. So that leaves Hagar and Anthony who are ousted members of the band in its current state. To make matters even worse, Velvet Revolver played sub-par versions (at best) of two Van Halen tunes at the ceremony.

So what holds in the future for the once-mighty Van Halen? Hagar himself sums it up when he says that the best thing for the fans right now is to get Eddie healthy and go do the tour with Dave. So we'll see....might as well Jump! :)