Eddie Van Halen formed alongside his brother Alex back in 1972 in Pasadena, California the band that used their surname and which would become one of the most influential Hard Rock groups of all time. They recruited the bassist Michael Anthony and the vocalist David Lee Roth, forming the classic line-up that would record their groundbreaking debut album in 1978.
Although Eddie became a reference as a guitar player in Hard Rock, he had a broad musical taste and even loved one Alanis Morissette song. That’s what his ex-wife, the actress Valerie Bertinelli revealed once.
The Alanis Morissette song that Eddie Van Halen loved
As Valerie recalled in an interview with Sirius XM in 2023, the Alanis Morissette song that the late legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen loved was “Thank U”. That track was part of her fourth studio album “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” released in 1998.
“This is one of my favorite Alanis’ songs. I don’t know if you remember (She asks her son Wolfgang). In the backroom I was cleaning out something, mom and dad had just moved out or something. I loved this song so much, you were like seven. I played this all the time and I wanted Ed to hear it. Because I wanted to pump him up and make him feel good.”
“(To) find the positive in life because he was in a lot of stress in his life. A lot of hurts and pain that went on that he would cover up in ways that weren’t healthy for him. So I was trying to give him a little motivation. This song, he loved it. He absolutely loved it. It’s a great song”.
Then she asks her son Wolfgang, saying: “‘Do you remember me playing it for dad?’ Because you walked in and you ‘Oh!’ Even you liked the song. It made (Eddie) cry, he liked it,” Valerie Bertinelli said.
That track is one of Alanis’ most famous songs and it was a big hit at the time. It peaked at number one on the charts of Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. On the United States Billboard Hot 100, the track peaked at number 7.
Alanis Morissette paid tribute to Eddie on her radio show when Taylor Hawkins was her guest
The Canadian singer and songwriter Alanis Morisette had the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins as a guest on her radio show in 2020. He had previously been a member of her band in the 90s. The program was recorded a few days after Eddie Van Halen passed away at the age of 65, after years battling cancer.
One of the songs played on the show was Van Halen’s “Everybody Wants Some” from their third album “Women and Children First” released in 1980. As Hawkins said, it represented how they felt when they were young kids and just wanted to become successful musicians.
“We were just having our discussion about our youthful dreams about back in the day. But even before we actually got paid to do it. And I think this is a good song to represent how we felt when we were hungry 16, 17-year-olds. (We were) slugging it out in the bars and clubs. “Everybody Wants Some” and I want some too,” Taylor Hawkins said during his conversation with Alanis on the show.
Van Halen released 12 studio albums and were one of the most influential Hard Rock bands of all time. They sold an estimated amount of more than 80 million records worldwide.