I love Van Halen. There is no mystery to why they were successful.

—Alice Cooper

Thank God for engineer Donn Landee, who was always at my side knowing what I wanted and making great suggestions. “Jump” was recorded at Ed’s studio. Donn and Ed put the track down alone in the middle of the night. We recut it once in one take for sonic reasons. Dave wrote the lyrics that afternoon in the backseat of his Mercury convertible. We finished all vocals that afternoon and mixed it that evening.

Everyone knows Ed’s a genius, but few realize Dave is too. His lyrics are so beautifully abstract it’s stunning. I tried to help him avoid the clichés we needed for hits. I learned a lot from them.

—Ted Templeman

When I was in my early twenties I was an unknown drummer touring the South with a guitar player named Gregg Wright. I was walking through a park in Baton Rouge and saw David Lee Roth sitting there with his bodyguard. I walked up and introduced myself. He was cool and gave me backstage passes to the show that night. It was the 1984 tour. It was an amazing show. When I went to try and say thanks I couldn’t get near him. There were at least fifty girls standing in line waiting to see him. I knew I didn’t stand a chance.

—Matt Sorum

Bigger-than-life sound. Bigger-than-life style. Van Halen had it all: talent, creativity, and an extremely vast body of work. They were truly unmatched, especially up through 1984. They could do it all. From “Runnin’ with the Devil” to “Panama,” they crushed the rock ‘n’ roll stereotype and rewrote the book. There can only be one.

—Craig Nunenmacher

When I was just a little boy, my mom would sit me down in front of the TV and all I wanted to watch was Van Halen. My mom knew that meant she had to turn on MTV because that’s where we could watch Van Halen videos. I was obsessed. I even had my mom sign me up for the official fan club, where I received a signed poster by the band that I still have to this day.

—M. Shadows

Listening to those Van Halen records totally changed everything for me. There’s no question their music was the soundtrack for my life. When I was nine I got Van Halen I because I was such a KISS fanatic that when I saw that Gene Simmons’ name was listed in the Special Thanks section, I thought he was in the band without his makeup. I put on “Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Eruption” and was totally blown away. I slowly started to put my KISS records away and became a fan, but was too young to go to the concerts. I had to wait until 1984, but once I saw the magic between Dave and Eddie on stage and the huge production, I knew I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen! I made a pact with myself: I wanted to play with David Lee Roth. Years later, in 1998, I got the chance and co-wrote most of his DLR Band record. A big thrill was hearing Eddie Van Halen say on a Detroit radio station that “Dave should stick with this guy.”

—John 5

I still think that the main riff to “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” is one of the coolest riffs ever written. To this day that’s always the first thing I play when I grab a new guitar.

—Shavo Odadjian

We were in Jacksonville, Florida, for the tour kickoff. At that time the country was having MICHAEL JACKSON fever and Michael could do no wrong. He was plastered all over the TV, newspapers and press. The night before the gig, we were all watching some awards show and Michael swept all the major awards. The next morning my phone rings at 6:30 A.M. and it’s Dave waking me up, saying, “Hey Zloz! I want to do a photo shoot.” I say in my half-asleep voice, “OK, MAN. When?” Dave says, “RIGHT NOW!” So, I go down to his room and he’s all ready to shoot EXCEPT he’s got his hair styled like Michael Jackson did on the awards show the night before. I thought Dave looked fucking COOL! So we shot a few rolls and then I went up to my room and back to sleep.

—Neil Zlozower

Van Halen were a rockin’ band in the late ‘70s. At the time hard rock/metal bands had lots of male fans. Van Halen with their great sexy songs and image brought many females into the rock/metal scene. They had killer grooves and sounds, they jammed, and they all put on an amazing live show. Alex was and is a great rock drummer! I had a band with Dave for a minute. We had a rehearsal to check out a guitarist. Dave showed up in an outfit that looked to me like pajamas. So I said, “Hey Dave, are those your PJs?” He said, “No dude, I had these made special from a Holiday Inn curtain-bedspread set. These were custom made for me.” I said, “They still look like pajamas.” I never heard from him about the band again.

—Carmine Appice

At key points in history, events always seem to happen to advance the human story. The first time prehistoric man created tools. The invention of the light bulb, penicillin, the automobile, radio, TV, the I-nternet, etc. Van Halen was another such event. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

—Vito Bratta

I first heard Van Halen on the radio at a party in college, and it sounded like electric adrenaline. When this sonic elixir hit the country, it unleashed hard rock hysteria. At that time, the identity of most drummers was buried in triggers and reverb. But when you heard Alex, his sound and energy were undeniable, and the tone quality of Michael Anthony’s background singing was also a distinctive stamp on the band’s overall vibe.

Edward’s contribution to rock guitar is immeasurable. It is only the most elite of elite musicians whose unconventional approach becomes convention. Some people are so utterly original that they can do only what comes naturally to them. Although Edward’s technique shattered prevailing standards, it was his choice of notes and the way he phrased them that were the auditory expression of his personality. And that personality was enchanting on many levels.

David Lee Roth had a fiercely confident persona. He oozed chutzpah and eroticism. Those were the things that defined him as an entertainer, and they were the things his audiences lusted after. It always amused me to see pseudo rock stars of the time feverishly attempting to copy his brilliance. Remember all those half-assed airborne leg splits to some watered-down, cookie-cutter version of “Panama”? Those novices never truly understood the self-discipline and focused vision Dave had in achieving his goals. He was underailable and intense, very intense. Did I mention he was intense?

Music fans often speculate about what the band might be like today if it hadn’t gone through so many breakups. Who knows? Maybe they’d be selling out the entire Sahara Desert by now. But if Dave had always stayed in the band, I would never have had the chance to join his solo group. And I would never have gotten to Eat ‘Em and Smile.

—Steve Vai

He brought tapping to the forefront, and I still think he was one of the tastiest players doing it. It wasn’t his fault that all these other horrendous people tried to emulate him. I actually saw Eddie play some blues once and it was really beautiful. It would be great to hear him play more in that style.

—Jeff Beck

The way many guys of my generation would look at Star Wars as their fondest childhood obsession is how I usually describe the long-lasting effect Van Halen has had on me. I play electric guitar for a living now, and I consider that fact largely due to Eddie. The first time I saw Eddie Van Halen walk atop the desks playing the “Hot for Teacher” solo I was like, “Why are both of his hands on the neck? That’s what I wanna do!” But it wasn’t just Eddie, it was the band’s intensity and musicality as a unit, it was their showmanship, their sense of humor, so many great songs and their live energy, which I would compare to some kind of before-its-time extreme sport. For the first few years that I played guitar, Van Halen records were the only thing I would listen to. As of late, I have a Van Halen shrine in my house. I’ve done college projects about them. There were Van Halen records playing at my wedding. They are my Star Wars and I grew up on Planet Tatooine.

—Fred Mascherino

When it really comes down to it, the sound of Edward’s guitar is what makes Van Halen instantly recognizable. They emerged in an era when rock groups had to create their own unique sound to be noticed by major labels. The sound of Edward’s guitar combined with Alex’s drums on the original records was positively brobdingnagian. It melted your speakers and it made you wonder how it was possible to do what they were doing. They had great songs with great arrangements, and David Lee Roth was the perfect extra ingredient to put things over the top. When they hit the stage in their heyday they were untouchable. Not only were they serious motherfuckers when it came to playing, but they put on a show that was as uplifting as it was awe inspiring. You walked away from one of their concerts energized.

—Dweezil Zappa

Eddie Van Halen invented metal guitar, plain and simple. It wasn’t done before, there was no conception of this complex art prior to his existence, and to top it off, if his metal chops weren’t enough to boggle minds for the next few decades, he threw in his right hand to help his left tackle the most eccentric, yet extremely tasteful, fingerboard schemes to date. Metal is the prophetic son and brainchild of Eddie Van Halen.

—Syn Gates

It was December of ‘06 and my wife and I were out cruisin’ around listening to satellite radio with our three-year-old in the backseat when Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me” started ripping out of the car speakers. When it got to the guitar solo my son asked if he would need two guitar picks to play like that! Nearly three decades later and even a three-year-old knows that Eddie’s guitar playing ain’t from this fucking planet!

—Tom Keifer

I remember standing on my chair at Long Beach Arena seeing Van Halen just rip shit! They were the coolest thing I had seen. Two years later I shared the same stage with them on the Monsters of Rock tour in Europe. Wow! Life is crazy!!!

—Tommy Lee

Alex and Eddie are the dynamic duo of music. Not only are they great songwriters, but incredible musicians. Alex was a big influence on me when I started playing drums.

—Raymond I. Herrera

If it wasn’t for Alex I’d still be wondering what in the hell to do with a pair of drumsticks in a rock ‘n’ roll song.

—Rikki Rockett