At 62, Eddie Van Halen Reveals 6 Guitarists He Hated The Most! – HT
We had a Radio Shack computer and we ended up numbering everything, punch it up on the computer and telling me what was on it. Known as the happiest guitar hero in rock history, Eddie Van Halen spent decades dazzling the world with music, humor, and warmth. But at 62, he finally admitted he’d been lying.
Behind the smile was a hidden blacklist of six legendary guitarists the world had always assumed he adored. men who’d once been his idols, his peers, even his inspirations. They had betrayed him, dismissed him, or cut him deeper than anyone ever imagined. And once you learn who they are, you’ll understand why this truth sent shock waves through the entire rock world.
Eric Clapton, the hero who broke Eddie’s heart. The first name on Eddie Van Halen’s secret hate list is the one no one ever expected. Eric Clapton. Yes, that Clapton. The same legend Eddie once worshiped so intensely that he wore out his Cream records from replaying them night after night. People who knew Eddie in the early days said you could walk into his room and hear crossroads looping until the speakers smoked.
He didn’t just study Clapton’s playing. He tried to be him. Then everything blew up in 1980. Clapton sat down for an interview and got asked about Eddie’s playing. He could have said something neutral. Instead, he delivered a line that felt like a boot to Eddie’s chest. He’s very good technically, but I don’t hear much soul.
People around Eddie said his face fell when he read it. He didn’t rage. He just told I learned everything from him. And he says that the real punch came later backstage in Los Angeles. Eddie finally got the chance to meet his hero. He walked in excited, almost nervous, like a kid seeing Santa in real life.
Clapton barely looked up. He kept glancing at his watch. No smile, no hello. When Eddie left the room, he muttered, “I think he just wanted it to be over.” That moment changed something inside him. The hero he’d chased since childhood suddenly felt small, cruel, cold. Years later, Eddie admitted the truth privately.
I love the myth more than the man. That’s why Clapton sits at the very top. Not the loudest feud, but the deepest cut Eddie ever carried. Richie Blackmore. The cold stare. Eddie never forgave. Richie Blackmore didn’t need to speak a single word to land himself on Eddie Van Halen’s hate list. The moment they crossed paths for the first time, the temperature in the room dropped.
Eddie walked in with genuine excitement, but Blackmore stood there staring at him with a blank, icy expression, the kind of look that told Eddie instantly, “You’re not welcome here.” Eddie talked about that moment years later with a mix of disbelief and frustration. “He just stared at me. Didn’t say hi. Nothing,” he said.
That silence stung more than an insult. Eddie was friendly, open, quick to smile. Blackmore gave him nothing. Not a nod, not even a handshake. It was a professional slap in the face. And the story didn’t stop there. At a late7s festival, a tech casually suggested that Blackmore should talk tone with Eddie. Blackmore didn’t even hide his disdain.
He turned away and said quietly, but sharply, “Not now. I don’t have time for that, kid. Eddie heard it. Everyone around heard it. The humiliation stuck to him like humidity. Blackmore eventually added fuel to the fire in the press. When a magazine asked for his thoughts on Eddie’s explosive new style, he replied, “He’s a fine player, but too many notes.
” It wasn’t a critique. It was a dismissal, the kind aimed to put someone back in their place. Since then, whenever Blackmore’s name came up, Eddie’s tone changed. The worship he once had as a teenager evaporated. What remained was a quiet, bitter truth. His hero treated him like a nuisance.
Years later, Eddie summed it up simply. Some people give you the shaft with their eyes. Blackmore didn’t just give it, he perfected it. Joe Perry, the rock star who treated Eddie like he didn’t exist. What pushed Eddie Van Halen and Joe Perry into silent hostility before they even exchanged a real sentence? The answer sits in the way Joe Perry looked at him, or more accurately, the way he refused to look at him.
Eddie stepped into the 1978 tour thinking he was finally sharing a stage with one of the guys he had admired while growing up. Instead, every time he crossed paths with Perry backstage, the Aerosmith guitarist walked past him like he was air. Eddie never sugarcoated it. He said flat out, “Joe Perry would just give me the shaft with his eyes.
” Not a hello, not a nod, nothing. Eddie didn’t need applause or compliments. A simple acknowledgement would have been enough, but Perry chose silence. The worst moment came one night after soundcheck. Eddie was curious about the Gibson Perry was holding and approached him with a friendly smile. Perry lifted his hand without even turning his head, signaling, “Don’t talk.
” and kept chatting with someone else. Eddie stood there for a second, stunned. He later told a friend, “It was like I wasn’t even there.” Years later, Perry finally admitted Eddie was a genius. But the apology came long after Eddie had stopped caring. The early damage had already carved its place in Eddie’s memory.
With Joe Perry, that silence was deafening. Randy Rhodess, the rival who hit Eddie where it hurt most. The tension between Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhodess didn’t build slowly. It hit hard the moment Ry’s name started appearing next to Eddie’s in magazine headlines. Eddie had just redefined rock guitar. And suddenly Randy, a young, classically trained newcomer, was being hailed as the next big thing.
“Edddy didn’t hide how much it bothered him. “He learned everything from me,” he once said on tape, his voice sharp. Randy wasn’t trying to be Eddie. Yet, every interview, every fan comparison forced them into an invisible duel. Eddie felt the pressure, and Randy felt the expectation. Their styles couldn’t be more different.
Eddie was instinct and chaos. Randy was discipline and form. But the industry kept shoving them into the same spotlight. Things took a darker turn on tour with Ozie Osborne. Ry’s tech thought it would be funny to tape a small picture of Eddie under Ry’s W pedal. So every time Randy stepped down, he was literally stomping on Eddie.
Randy laughed and kept it there. The joke spread fast. When Eddie heard about it, something inside him closed up. Publicly, he brushed it off. Privately, he couldn’t forget it. Azie later added fuel, saying Randy didn’t have a nice thing to say about Eddie, which only deepened the divide. Eddie felt underestimated.
Randy felt compared to death. Neither wanted to admit the other was extraordinary, even though both knew it. Since then, Randy became the one opponent Eddie could never outrun, even after he was gone. Tom Schultz, the engineer who crossed Eddie’s line. The bad blood between Eddie Van Halen and Tom Schultz began in the most abrupt, uncomfortable way possible, right on stage in front of thousands of people.
Eddie had just finished tearing through one of his signature solos, the kind that left the crowd buzzing when Schultz stepped up for Boston’s set and launched straight into a solo nearly identical to Eddie’s. Same phrasing, same runs, same attitude. Eddie froze. Later, Eddie walked straight up to him. He asked why Schultz had played his solo, why he’d gone out there and taken something so personal.
Schultz didn’t flinch. He shrugged and said it sounded good, as if the entire thing were nothing more than a casual choice. Then he turned away, ending the conversation as abruptly as it began. What made Eddie furious wasn’t just the copying. It was the way Schultz delivered that line like the matter was beneath him.
He didn’t acknowledge the tension, didn’t treat Eddie like a peer. He just walked off like none of it meant anything. Another incident cemented the grudge. During a later shared show, Eddie tried giving a polite nod as their paths crossed. Schultz didn’t return it. He didn’t even slow down. Crew members said it looked like he intentionally shifted his gaze away to avoid him.
Eddie could forgive competition, but he couldn’t forgive disrespect. And that’s why Tom Schulz stayed on his list, not because he played the notes, but because he played them without looking him in the eye. And that was how the relationship ended. Rick Daringer, the veteran who pushed Eddie past his limit.
Rick Daringer is the only guitarist Eddie Van Halen ever removed from a tour. And that detail alone tells you how fast things turned ugly between them. No Cold War, just a line crossed so blatantly that Eddie didn’t even hesitate. What made this feud hit differently was the history behind it. Eddie actually liked Daringer.
He grew up playing some of his old licks, even admired the swagger Daringer brought to the stage. That admiration didn’t survive long once they toured together. The breaking point came during a show in 78. Eddie had just finished a blistering solo, the kind people leaned forward to watch. Minutes later, Daringer stepped out and played a section that sounded almost identical.
Not inspired, not similar, but Eddie’s solo redone in front of the same crowd. Eddie heard it from the wings and the look on his face said everything. He wasn’t flattered. He felt robbed. After the show, Eddie pulled him aside and told him straight. He didn’t mind if anyone used tapping, but copying his melody was a different story.
Eddie reminded him that he’d looked up to him when he was younger. Daringer brushed it off, said something vague about giving the audience what they liked, and walked away. The next night, he did it again. exact same melody, same phrasing, same finish, even closing with You Really Got Me, a song Van Halen had already turned into their signature. That was it.
Eddie told the band and crew that Daringer wasn’t opening for them anymore. No debate, no second chances. Rick Daringer crossed that boundary twice. That’s why Eddie shut the door on him for good. Now that you’ve heard the six names Eddie kept hidden for decades, which one shocked you the most? Tell us in the comments.
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