Steve Vai recalled that Eddie Van Halen once admitted he initially expected to hate him, only to change his mind after getting to know him. Vai shared the story in an interview with Chris Jericho.
Vai explained that Eddie called him the night he quit Roth’s band. The guitarist also recalled that Eddie had expected to dislike him but found he actually liked him instead. Most striking to Vai was a comment Eddie made about leaving Roth, which seemed to reveal something important about Van Halen’s own feelings.
“The day that I quit Dave’s band, Edward called me that night,” Vai said. “I didn’t even know how he knew.”
“And he said, ‘You have to come over my house.'”
“Some of the standout things that I remember him saying was, ‘I thought I was really gonna hate you, but I really like you.'”
Vai continued, “And then there was another time where he said, you know, ‘You did something that I just couldn’t do.’ And I’m thinking, what the hell could that possibly be? You know, you can do anything I can do. And he said, ‘You left Dave.'”
Van Halen’s remark came across to Vai as an admission about limits Van Halen felt in his own career. The comments were made during Vai’s appearance on Jericho’s show.
Vai joined Roth’s band in 1986 after the singer parted ways with Van Halen to pursue a solo career. The band featured bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Gregg Bissonette, and keyboardist Brett Tuggle, and they toured in support of Roth’s album Eat ‘Em and Smile. Vai left the band in 1989 following their Skyscraper tour, which is when Eddie called him that night.
Eddie had been watching Vai’s work in Roth’s band and was impressed by what he heard. Rather than seeing Vai as a rival who had taken his old spot, Eddie seemed to respect Vai’s musicianship and his willingness to step away from the role. The two developed a close friendship that lasted for decades, hanging out together frequently during the months and years that followed.
Eddie’s comment to Vai about leaving Roth suggested that the Van Halen guitarist felt trapped by his own ties to the singer and the band that bore his name. Eddie believed that the Van Halen records were his solo records, and he never pursued an independent solo career in the way that Vai and others in rock had done. For Eddie, the comment appeared to reflect a sense that Vai had achieved a kind of freedom that he himself had never managed.
