When Nuno Bettencourt met Eddie Van Halen in 1991, he quickly learned two things: his hero knew exactly who he was — and he’d read what Bettencourt had said about him in the press.
As Nuno tells SiriusXM, their encounter took place in Los Angeles shortly after Bettencourt’s band Extreme completed the recording of their breakthrough album, Pornograffitti.
“I was staying in town to produce a Dweezil Zappa album called Confessions, and on the way to the studio one day he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to make a quick stop.’ It was at CenterStaging.”
Nuno went in with him to find Van Halen rehearsing. As soon as Eddie saw Nuno, he stopped the band.
Other than Elton John — he’s the only guitarist or musician who’s ever kissed me on the lips.”
— Nuno Bettencourt
“I was like, ‘Uh-oh, he’s gonna kick me out.’ And he came over and — other than Elton John — he’s the only guitarist or musician who’s ever kissed me on the lips.
“I thought I was special, but then I read that he did that to Kurt Cobain as well, and he did it to so-and-so, so he was a bit of a slut. He kissed everybody on the lips ‘hello.’”
Listening to Van Halen play that day, Nuno says, “I was thinking as a guitar player, ‘There it is. There’s that tone.’”
He adds that while recording Pornograffitti, he used Van Halen I and II as the reference point for his guitar sounds.
Standing there, Nuno imagined the opportunity before him.
“I was fantasizing, ‘Can you imagine everybody leaving the room and me just playing his rig, the guitar, finally sounding like Eddie Van Halen?’
“First thing he does when they take a break: ‘Come and play my rig!’ And I was like, ‘Uh-oh, did he just hear me? Did I just say that out loud?’
“And he’s like, ‘No, no, just play, man. I want to try this pedal out.’”
Eddie put his electric guitar on Nuno and crouched down to work on a pedal.
“He’s kneeling down in front of me, facing the other way, and he’s trying some pedal out. The first thing that goes through my head is something you never think about as a kid: What’s the first thing you play in front of Eddie Van Halen?
I was panicking. And he turns around and says, ‘You gonna play?’”
— Nuno Bettencourt
“I was panicking. And he turns around and says, ‘You gonna play?’”
Nuno launched into the guitar solo from the Pornograffitti single “Get the Funk Out.”
“I was just like, ‘I’m just gonna play something. I’m not gonna improvise and go down in flames in front of Eddie Van Halen!’
“And when I got to the part where I started doing the tapping, he turns around and stops me. I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’
“And he goes, ‘None of that silly stuff here!’”
As Nuno explains, he had recently told an interviewer, “I kind of feel silly when I tap because it’s so Eddie. Not that it was bad — embarrassing. You cannot be Eddie when you do that, right?
“So he stopped me. You think these guys who are icons don’t read magazines.”
Clearly, Eddie had.
Bettencourt adds that he was surprised when then-former Extreme singer Gary Cherone accepted the invitation to replace Sammy Hagar in 1996 and record Van Halen III. After all, the singer was not particularly enamored of the group’s music.
“The funny thing is Gary and I were still talking, and he came to me about doing it,” Nuno recalls. “Gary was not the biggest Van Halen fan. He was a Who guy, Zeppelin — you know, he loved Queen. Me and Pat [Badger, bass] were more obsessed with Van Halen.
“So it was kind of ironic that Gary ended up in Van Halen.”
