Quotes by Eddie Van Halen

“Its always a Catch-22 situation. They hate you if youre the same, and they hate you if youre different.”

“Music is for people. The word pop is simply short for popular. It means that people like it. Im just a normal jerk who happens to make music. As long as my brain and fingers work, Im cool.”

“I was trying to take the band in a direction that I thought was appropriate, and Roth was trying to take the band in more of a Las Vegas direction. And there he is.”

“Theres a plaque on our wall that says weve sold over 65 million albums, and I dont feel Ive accomplished anything. I feel like Im just getting started.”

“Yeah, but I dont think it was because of us. There was a lot of cocaine on the console-and it wasnt necessarily the bands. That was a problem. And we werent allowed any input on the mix.”

The hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.

On Van Halen, I was a young punk, and everything revolved around the fastest kid in town, gunslinger attitude. But Id say that at the time of Fair Warning, I started concentrating more on songwriting. But I guess in most peoples minds Im just a gunslinger.

Music is for people. The word pop is simply short for popular. It means that people like it. Im just a normal jerk who happens to make music. As long as my brain and fingers work, Im cool.

If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, youll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually youll get to where you want to be.

Its funny, when bands or younger musicians ask me: So, what does it take to make it? Well, first explain to me what you mean by making it: Do you want to be a rock star or do you want music to be your livelihood?

I never dreamt of being a musician for my livelihood. I certainly never would have wanted to be in the business that Im in, meaning the fame and the glory, the glitter, the rock star, the famous part.

Im blessed with a good pair of ears. Thats how I fooled my piano teacher. Id watch his fingers and Id listen to it, and I just kind of basically learned it by myself.

You know, most people, they want to go to Hollywood. They want to be a star. They want to be a rock star. That thought never entered any of our minds, the Van Halen family.

A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. Im very brutal on my instruments, but not all the time.

When Im home on a break, I lock myself in my room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start getting into this total meditation. Its a feeling few people experience, and thats usually when I come up with weird stuff. It just flows. I cant force myself. I dont sit down and say Ive got to practice.