Joe Satriani has been a key figure in honoring the music of Eddie Van Halen over the past few years, but if he’d had it his way, there may have been another virtuoso carrying the torch in his place.
Back in 2022, rumors of a potential Van Halen reunion tribute tour began to circulate after Jason Newsted said he’d been approached by Alex Van Halen for a project that ultimately “fizzled” out.
Eventually, Satch would link up with Sammy Hagar for The Best of All Worlds – widely seen as the next best alternative to a Van Halen tribute tour – but before that, he was heavily involved in the ill-fated project that also featured David Lee Roth.
However, when Alex and Roth sounded out his availability for the band, Satch tried to distance himself – suggesting they instead hire Nuno Bettencourt.
As Satch explains in an interview with David J. Maloney, “It started really when Dave and Alex had called and they wanted to put together a band, and they were insisting that I was the guy to do it, and I kept saying, ‘I’m not the guy. Like, call Nuno.’
“He can really do it, and there’s thousands of kids around the world who dedicated their life to sounding exactly like Ed.”
For Satriani, stepping into a role that would focus solely on the music of Eddie Van Halen didn’t sit quite right with his own ambitions, especially since it was a sound he’d consciously worked hard to distance himself from.
“I said, ‘I’ve always tried not to sound like Ed.’ I’m a huge fan, but like I’ve tried to respect that.’ But they were insistent,” he adds of his approach. “And we rehearsed, we came really close to doing our first show, but it all kind of started to fall apart.”
That the project failed to get off the ground is well-documented. In 2024, Alex Van Halen revealed that David Lee Roth's refusal to pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen during the proposed shows meant they couldn’t go ahead.
But when it failed, Satch fielded another call from another former Van Halen member – but the outline was different.
“When it seemed like what was going on in the family and the band members was getting really out of hand, Sam called,” Satriani continues.
“And he surprised me by saying, ‘Look, I know this: you've been going through this thing with those guys, and it’s insane and everything. How about if we did a retrospective tour – not an Eddie Van Halen tribute thing, but where we get to do Montrose, Hagar, Chickenfoot, my stuff… even some David Lee Roth-era Van Halen?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that could [work].’”
It’s not the first time Satch recommended a player for a high-profile guitar gig. Earlier this month, he revealed he’d put Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal’s name forward for the Guns N’ Roses gig after hearing Axl Rose was on the hunt for Buckethead’s replacement.
Elsewhere in his chat with Maloney, Satriani opened up on the hand injury that forced him to find new ways to play his songs.
