It was 1996 and Billy Corgan was the toast of the alternative-rock universe. His band, Smashing Pumpkins, were riding high on the monster success of Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness. But before Corgan became a hero to millions of music fans, he had his own idol, a man whose albums and guitar licks he painstakingly dissected.
Indeed, it wasn’t enough for the then-teenaged Billy Corgan to simply play like Edward Van Halen; he wanted to be Eddie. He wasn’t alone. Corgan found fame and fortune by simply being himself, but when the opportunity arose to have a private sit-down with Van Halen, his response was along the lines of: “Where and when?” Corgan took the meeting seriously, peppering Van Halen with sharp, well-researched questions like only a seasoned journalist could.
