Kenny Wayne Shepherd believes Eddie Van Halen was far different than how he was portrayed in the media.
Shepherd had a long history with the late guitar god, having toured with Van Halen on two separate occasions.
“We toured with them back in the ‘90s when it was Van Halen III and they had Gary Cherone singing in the band for a brief moment,” Shepherd recalled during a recent appearance on the Appetite for Distortion podcast. “And then we toured again with them on the very last tour in 2015.”
Shepherd, who also became social friends with Eddie away from the stage, found the rocker to be friendly and outgoing, a far cry from the aloof figure that had been portrayed in the media.
READ MORE: The Best Song from Every Van Halen Album
“What I’ve learned in my life is you hear stories about people and a lot of times people only tell the stories that, the bad stories because it kind of makes for a good headline or whatever,” Shepherd explained. “So I’ve learned not to judge people based on other people’s experiences and I had nothing but great experiences with Eddie. He was always just, couldn’t have been a nicer guy to me.”
“I think people can often mistake shyness with being standoffish,” the blues rock guitarist continued. “A lot of people like to keep to themselves. A lot of them are not very outgoing people in private settings, but on stage they’re larger than life.”
Shepherd also noted that he never saw any of the reported bitterness between Van Halen and his bandmates.
“[Eddie] never trashed anybody,” he confirmed. “He never was talking trash about anybody.”
Shepherd Noticed a Big Difference Between Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth
While Shepard was clear that all of his Van Halen experiences were positive, he did note one clear difference during the band’s final tour.
“On this last tour, I saw Wolfgang all the time. I saw Alex frequently. I saw Ed every day,” the rocker recalled. “The one guy I never saw, never said hello to me or anything like that was David Lee Roth. So, I can’t speak to him because I never met him.”
READ MORE: Van Halen Albums Ranked
“His guys were always trying to be like, if he entered the building, it was like, ‘He’s entered the building! Everybody, clear the room!’” Shepherd continued. “There was definitely a difference between my interactions with Eddie and then the way that David Lee Roth seemed to approach things. But I’m not gonna judge that guy because I’d never actually had an interaction with him.”
Shepherd’s new album, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 2, will be released Sept. 20.
Van Halen Lineup Changes
Three different singers and two different bassists joined the Van Halen brothers over the years.