Orianthi Shares What Eddie Van Halen Told Her When She Was Hired By Michael Jackson

[James in New York]

Orianthi Talks What Eddie Van Halen Had to Tell Her When She Was Hired By Michael Jackson

"When I had to learn the 'Beat It' solo and study his playing, I was like, 'Holy crap! It's insane!'"

During an appearance on Let There Be Talk, Orianthi talked about the late guitar great Eddie Van Halen.

Asked when she heard Eddie Van Halen for the first time, Orianthi replied:

"I first heard Eddie, obviously, with Van Halen, 'Jump' and all that - and wow, what a monster player.

"And then obviously, the 'Beat It' solo and all that. I always just thought of him as this incredible guitar player but I wasn't into the shred as much, I just admired and looked up to him.

Wow, what a monster player.

"And then when I had to learn the 'Beat It' solo and study his playing, I was like, 'Holy crap! It's insane!'

My guitar teacher at the time put me on the phone with him. He called and wanted to talk.

"And he said, 'Hey, do you want to come over and jam?

Congrats on getting there with Michael.'

He was so cool. I never ended up going over to his place and jamming because the rehearsals with Michael were so intense - every day, basically.

"And so that never kind of happened and I went on tour after that.

And it was just an honor to even talk to him and have the congrats from him for getting the gig.

"Honestly, when I walked in there to try to play the solo - you can't try to fill anyone's shoes, especially Eddie's.

"I did actually the solo with my own sort of thing to it, it's bluesier because I'm not that kind of player, but he's insane.

What a huge loss to the guitar world, to the music world, to everything.

Just such a talented player."

Such a loss to the songwriting world. People just don't talk enough about that.

To me, we wouldn't be talking about his guitar playing if he didn't have these incredible songs.

I mean, we would talk about him in a way the guitar nerds would but this guy touched everybody with his amazing songwriting.

"Absolutely.

I used to play 'Jump' before every show.

This is that thing when I went on tour with my own band, before I started, that would be my opening music.

Before I stepped on stage, it would be 'Jump' because it's always got me in a good mood.

"So insane - all of his guitar playing, the songwriting, everything about him.

Gone too soon, and I honestly didn't know he was that unwell.

"My friend texted me and said something about EVH, and I thought he was talking about an amplifier because I didn't know that he had passed, and so I had no idea what was going on because I was working.

I just didn't know he was that sick, so sad."

[James in New York]

[PrideofPasadena]

I think she shoulda just told Mike I gotta go to Ed's and learn how to get that solo down.

[Raldo]

She did just fine on that solo. Well done!!

[edwardv]

When the king asks you to 5150 to jam you go screw MJ

Sent from my LGL322DL using Tapatalk

[Dave's Dreidel]

When the king asks you to 5150 to jam you go screw MJ

Sent from my LGL322DL using Tapatalk

MJ would tell Orianthi she's to old for that.

[rockyvanheineken]

MJ would tell Orianthi she's to old for that.

And the wrong gender.

[James in New York]

This stranger's version is pretty pretty pretty good!

[sinners__swing]

MJ would tell Orianthi she's to old for that.

Not for Richie.

[Little Dreamer]

Orianthi Talks What Eddie Van Halen Had to Tell Her When She Was Hired By Michael Jackson

"When I had to learn the 'Beat It' solo and study his playing, I was like, 'Holy crap! It's insane!'"

During an appearance on Let There Be Talk, Orianthi talked about the late guitar great Eddie Van Halen.

Asked when she heard Eddie Van Halen for the first time, Orianthi replied:

"I first heard Eddie, obviously, with Van Halen, 'Jump' and all that - and wow, what a monster player.

"And then obviously, the 'Beat It' solo and all that. I always just thought of him as this incredible guitar player but I wasn't into the shred as much, I just admired and looked up to him.

Wow, what a monster player.

"And then when I had to learn the 'Beat It' solo and study his playing, I was like, 'Holy crap! It's insane!'

My guitar teacher at the time put me on the phone with him. He called and wanted to talk.

"And he said, 'Hey, do you want to come over and jam?

Congrats on getting there with Michael.'

He was so cool. I never ended up going over to his place and jamming because the rehearsals with Michael were so intense - every day, basically.

"And so that never kind of happened and I went on tour after that.

And it was just an honor to even talk to him and have the congrats from him for getting the gig.

"Honestly, when I walked in there to try to play the solo - you can't try to fill anyone's shoes, especially Eddie's.

"I did actually the solo with my own sort of thing to it, it's bluesier because I'm not that kind of player, but he's insane.

What a huge loss to the guitar world, to the music world, to everything.

Just such a talented player."

Such a loss to the songwriting world. People just don't talk enough about that.

To me, we wouldn't be talking about his guitar playing if he didn't have these incredible songs.

I mean, we would talk about him in a way the guitar nerds would but this guy touched everybody with his amazing songwriting.

"Absolutely.

I used to play 'Jump' before every show.

This is that thing when I went on tour with my own band, before I started, that would be my opening music.

Before I stepped on stage, it would be 'Jump' because it's always got me in a good mood.

"So insane - all of his guitar playing, the songwriting, everything about him.

Gone too soon, and I honestly didn't know he was that unwell.

"My friend texted me and said something about EVH, and I thought he was talking about an amplifier because I didn't know that he had passed, and so I had no idea what was going on because I was working.

I just didn't know he was that sick, so sad."

The thing that caught my attention in this story is her guitar teacher being like "hold on, you want to learn 'Beat It?' Here's Eddie on the phone."
I'm wondering who her guitar teacher was. I taught guitar for a while but would not have been able to dial Eddie's number for any student!

[PrideofPasadena]

Ha, you're right. Wonder who it was.

[James in New York]

Maybe it was Lukather?

Or Vai?

She played with Vai at 14...
Santana at 18...

[Mariner]

Maybe it was Lukather?

Or Vai?

She played with Vai at 14...
Santana at 18...

I was thinking Lukather as well.

[MD 5150]

This stranger's version is pretty pretty pretty good!

Jedi's version is superior to Orianthi.

[VanRoth07]

Very nice