Is an Eddie Van Halen tribute tour in the works? Jason Newsted, Joe Satriani and David Lee Roth comment on rumours

Ever since former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted mentioned last week that he’d been approached by Alex Van Halen and Joe Satriani about a Van Halen tribute tour, speculation around what such an event could look like has continued to grow.

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Now Joe Satriani has confirmed on the Rock of Nations with Dave Kinchen podcast that he had been discussing “a true tribute to Eddie [Van Halen] and the Van Halen legacy” with Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth, saying, “I’ve been talking with Alex and Dave for about a year about doing something – a tour, something like that.

“For me,” Satriani continued, “it was a terrifying prospect of doing something like that, but I realised that it was something that would be a real labour of love for me. I was just so honoured to take on the challenge […]. It’s very complicated. And all I can really say about it is that if it does happen, I know we’ll make it the greatest thing ever for the fans and we’ll all celebrate together not only the great Eddie Van Halen but the legacy that that band created, the amazing amount of music and the goodwill and good vibes they created as a band.

“These things are always happening in the music industry, and you’re supposed to keep very quiet about it, because sometimes they don’t work out. There’s usually about ten crazy ideas that float around and musicians are always, like, ‘Okay, I won’t say anything about this ’cause it may not work out. I don’t wanna hurt this person’s feelings or disrupt any other business plans.’ So, yeah, we were all pretty shocked that Jason wanted to go public with it ’cause we were all sworn to silence!

“Like I said before, if it ever does happen, it would be a great honour and a terrifying challenge. Eddie, you can’t reproduce what he did – you can’t. You can learn the notes and you can be taught all the fingerings and get the gear and everything, but there was only one Eddie and he was the epitome of an original genius. But if it does happen, I know that Alex will make sure that it’s the right way to do it.”

David Lee Roth has in turn responded to the rumours, telling the Van Halen News Desk, “In my mind, Van Halen 4k, in the age of COVID is going to require two of us for every position. Satriani and Lukather, Anthony and Newsted, Al or Tommy Lee.

“Probably the only one who could do my job is Pink,” the singer added.