Ozzy Osbourne speaks about Eddie Van Halen, who died Tuesday from cancer.
“I knew he was battling an illness. I have the same doctor as him. I used to pass messages through her to him, and she would never tell me the condition he was in or whatever. She would say, ‘What do you want to say?’ And I would say, ‘I send my regards.’ So it really was a shock, because he was a good guy. He really was a good man…
“I remember seeing Eddie do that finger-tapping thing, and that was the first time I’d ever seen anyone do that. Just when you think nobody can make guitar playing exciting, somebody like that comes out. He was one of them…
“One thing I loved about Eddie was he always had a big grin on his face, and he looked like he was enjoying every second he was up there. Whether it was showbiz BS or not — I don’t think it was — he always looked like he was having the best time of his life up there.”
Ozzy first met Eddie when Van Halen opened for Black Sabbath in 1978.
“Van Halen were a force to be reckoned with,” says Ozzy. “They weren’t an easy band to follow. I remember one time, we did a gig in San Antonio; they went on, and the building was jam packed. You couldn’t get away from it. They went on and blew the roof off. And we had to follow them. I mean, it was such a hard gig for us. To follow Van Halen, you’d go, ‘Oh no.’ And after that tour, they took off.
“They were really a great band. I remember I did Monsters of Rock, and I opened up for Van Halen and AC/DC. And that was a great bill. I was smoking in them days, and then they had to follow me. It was poetic justice.”
