Expert: Andrea Murphy Date: 3/11/2005 Subject: eddie van halen
Question Hi Andrea, There's so many great guitarist out there but eddie's one of the best! I have some questions-how would you rate him on a scale of 1-100? How old was he when he started playing guitar? Who are his favorite guitarists? Thank you for the time. Sean
Answer Hello Sean,
Hmmm...rating on a scale of 1 -100 (100 being highest), believe it or not, that's a tough one! Ten years ago, he would have been a 98 in my eyes, just short of 100 due to a few sloppy shows where he tipped a few too many beers prior to showtime. He is down to a 85 right now; no one can question his contributions in the past, but I would like to see him continue to create music.
He was 12 when he started playing. He actually started on drums at the age of 12 and switched with Alex shortly after that. He has mentioned all sorts of guitarists he admires over the years; he is pretty gracious about stuff like that. The most consistent mention is Eric Clapton. On a personal level he is very close to Steve Lukather from Toto.
