In a recent chat with Tony González of Made In Metal, Nuno Bettencourt touched on the ongoing discussions about him being Eddie Van Halen’s successor in the rock guitar world. He reflected on the late guitarist’s legacy and explained:
“I think when somebody like Edward changes guitar that much, I don’t think there will ever be anybody — not me, not anybody else — that is gonna take that throne.”
Mentioning a ‘mission’ for the musicians following him, the Extreme guitarist went on:
“But for guys like me who were influenced by him, the best thing we can do is keep that torch alive, keep the guitar playing alive, and hopefully keep passing it on to other generations as well. We definitely don’t want guitar to go away in that way, and we want people to keep inspiring younger generations to play. So, I’m hoping at the very least that’s something I can do — on behalf of Eddie Van Halen.”
Bettencourt, whose band released a new album a few months ago, also mentioned the influences on his guitar playing, starting with Van Halen:
“I wouldn’t be playing the same way, the way I play, if it wasn’t for Edward Van Halen. I wouldn’t be playing the way I’d be playing if it wasn’t for Brian May or, Jimmy Page or, Randy Rhoads or, Neal Schon, or Elliot Easton from The Cars. There’s so many guitar players that make up a part of who you are. Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen — all these guys are influences.”
Reportedly, the late guitar player paid a visit to the Extreme member during the recording of ‘Rise’ from the ‘Six’ album and wanted to hear the track shortly before his passing. But Bettencourt didn’t play his part as it wasn’t finished at the time.
Later, in an interview with Metal Edge, the guitarist revealed his regret over the decision. He also explained the memory’s influence on his musical direction by saying:
“All I can say is that after seeing [Eddie] while I was working on ‘Rise’ and then hearing the news of his passing, I did feel a little bit of a responsibility. It’s not about me being ‘the guy’ or some great guitar player because there are lots of them, right? But I definitely felt that within my genre and my generation, I felt like that after Edward passed, I had at least a little bit of responsibility to set an example.”
Currently, Extreme has plans to hit the road for a second US leg of its ‘Thicker Than Blood’ tour. Bettencourt and the band will be on stage with Living Colour for 21 additional dates in 2024.
