Jimmy Page and Robert Plant helped give Canadian alt-rock outfit Our Lady Peace an early break. But 30 years on, frontman Raine Maida says a very different moment — one involving the Van Halen camp — proved just as pivotal to the band’s trajectory.
Now on the road marking their 30th anniversary, Our Lady Peace are revisiting nearly every chapter of their catalog. For Maida, the milestone has brought two formative experiences into sharp focus.
The first came when Plant heard the band on the radio and promptly invited them to open for him and Page at Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena), along with a stop in Indianapolis. The exposure was transformative.
Article continues below 
“Robert was extremely welcoming,” Maida told Ultimate Classic Rock, recalling crowds that were “so giving of their ears, their hearts and time” — a reception that quickly elevated the band’s profile.
Just months later, however, they found themselves in a far less hospitable environment: a summer 1995 amphitheater tour with Sammy Hagar–era Van Halen, in support of Balance, with Skid Row also on the bill.
“We were nervous,” Maida admits. “These were sold-out shows, and the fans — unlike with Page and Plant — really didn’t want to see us.”
Hagar, in particular, pushed the band to adopt a more overtly crowd-pleasing approach.
“He came up to me a couple of times and said, ‘This is supposed to be a party — you’ve got to get the crowd pumped up more,’” Maida recalls.
Maida held his ground. “I told him, respectfully, I get that — he’s an incredible singer — but I’m a very different performer. I’ve never seen myself as an entertainer in that way.”
Tensions escalated to the point where Maida was told a lineup change might be imminent.
“I thought, ‘That’s it — we’ve been kicked off the tour. What am I going to tell my mom?’”
But the decision wasn’t Hagar’s to make. Behind the scenes, guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen intervened.
“We got a knock on the door, and the tour manager said Eddie and Alex wanted to see me,” Maida says. “Alex and I had become friends — we both had back problems, so we bonded over that.
“I went in, and they told me, ‘Don’t listen to Sammy — he doesn’t have the power to do that. You’re not going anywhere.’ My head was spinning. It wasn’t a great vibe after that, but Eddie and Alex saved us.”
The tour continued as planned, a decision that, in hindsight, left a lasting impression on Maida, not just professionally but personally.
“Eddie showed you what it takes to be a master musician,” he says of the virtuoso electric guitarist. “He’d walk into catering with a guitar on, start soundcheck an hour and a half early. Forget 10,000 hours — we’re talking a million. He was the instrument. That was incredibly inspiring.”
The story has fresh resonance amid renewed activity in the Van Halen camp. Alex Van Halen is reportedly working with Steve Lukather on material drawn from archival demos recorded before Eddie’s death, with discussions ongoing about a possible vocalist. Paul Rodgers has declined involvement, while former bass guitarist Michael Anthony has suggested the recordings might be best left as instrumentals.
And in related news, Sammy Hagar has fired a new shot at Alex Van Halen by unfavorably comparing him to Roger Waters.
