Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder to Eddie Van Halen: “Hey Ed. Would it be funny if I asked you to sign this thing?” – Cool History – Tacoma Dome

Stern Show:

“He signed it ‘To Eddie, From Eddie,’” Eddie Vedder tells Howard about meeting Eddie Van Halen and asking him to autograph a Van Halen 8-track.

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Howard Stern: You must’ve loved Eddie Van Halen because he was always screwing with his guitar. I mean, he put together the Frankenstein (guitar) by using different body parts. That guy was really out there. I mean, what a genius.

Eddie Vedder:

Yeah, he was a genius.

Howard Stern: Did you ever meet him?

Eddie:

I did, and it wasn’t even that long ago. All my records are on vinyl. We were getting a ride down to the (Van Halen) show. So, we’re having a drink in the back. I’m looking for some CDs or something, and I’ve got nothing. Then I remember that I’ve got an 8-track, it’s like a ghetto blaster, but it’s for 8-tracks. I brought Van Halen I & II on 8-track and that’s what we cranked on the way to the Tacoma Dome (laughs).

Then when we walked in, I said: “You know what? I’m going to take that in because we might get to meet him. I might even have him sign this damn thing.” And sure enough we did. I was a little nervous because if you’re Eddie Van Halen, you could be a complete asshole, and I would totally respect that. You can be however you want if you’re Eddie Van Halen.

It turned out that he was the sweetest, sweetest guy, and I kind of sheepishly say: “Hey Ed. Would it be funny if I asked you to sign this thing?” He said, “Oh, my God, look at that.” He said, “Wolfie, come here.” He had his son come over. “Look at this.” Wolfie looked at it like the Coke bottle in ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy,’ like he just didn’t know. He said, “This is what we used to put out” and explained. So, yeah, I have this nice thing where he wrote, “To Eddie from Eddie.”