Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of the rock band Green Day, recently shared his emotional story of meeting guitar legend Eddie Van Halen backstage. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, Armstrong recalled his love for Van Halen, who he saw in concert as a 12-year-old and left in tears. He described Van Halen’s guitar playing as coming from a different place and reinventing how to play guitar, adding that writing great songs was the main takeaway from Van Halen’s work.
Armstrong then recounted his meeting with Eddie Van Halen backstage at a concert in Kansas City that his friends and he had flown in to attend. After meeting Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son and fellow band member, they met Eddie himself, who was playing the guitar and speaking with Armstrong simultaneously. Armstrong observed that Eddie had giant hands and, after remarking on them, Eddie revealed that he had arthritis.
At that point, Armstrong shared that something unexpected happened. Eddie began crying and looking at Armstrong with his hand behind his neck, saying that Armstrong was the only one who understood him. Armstrong was taken aback by the experience and tried to convey how much Van Halen’s music had meant to him as a musician and songwriter. The meeting took a familial turn when Wolfgang entered the room, and Eddie asked if he wanted to tune to his father or vice versa.
Green Day recently announced that they will play their classic albums, Dookie and American Idiot, in full on their upcoming ‘Saviors’ world tour. A new album, Saviors, will accompany the tour, set for release on January 19. Support acts for the tour will include The Hives, Rancid, The Linda Lindas, and others
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