Eddie Van Halen Hated It When People Would Call Him The Best, Bass Tech Kevin Dugan Recalls
Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony’s tech Kevin ‘Dugie’ Dugan opened up about his fondest memory with late guitarist Eddie Van Halen during an interview with Ultimate Guitar and recalled the time when Eddie signed a picture with Kevin’s daughter as an act of kindness in addition to revealing how the iconic guitarist hated being called ‘the best’ in his early years.
As many of you might know, Kevin ‘Dugie’ Dugan worked as former Van Halen member Michael Anthony’s bass technician for three decades, traveling the world with the band for numerous tours along with many other legendary musicians.
Since Kevin ‘Dugie’ Dugan had the opportunity to spend years working closely with one of the greatest bands in music history, he was asked during a recent interview about his favorite memory with late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Apparently, there are plenty since watching such an iconic musician on the go brought numerous special moments.
However, there was an emotional moment he had with the legendary guitarist when her daughter’s friends did not believe that her father was working with Van Halen, ‘Dugie’ decided to prove them wrong and asked Eddie Van Halen if he can take a picture with his daughter backstage.
Being the kind person that he is, Eddie accepted the offer, furthermore, asked Dugie to bring the picture so that he can sign it for his daughter to bring it to school and prove her friends wrong which was extremely thoughtful and sweet of him.
Here is what Kevin ‘Dugie’ Dugan said:
“There were a lot of good memories. Watching Edward in the studio and seeing how songs change from one thing to another and then becoming hit. I was the only tech that was there when Sammy came in to audition with the band for two days and I remember Edward played him some of the stuff they were working on and he plays ‘Summer Nights’ and Sammy started scatting to it and writing lyrics down and it sounded so close to what ended up on the record – it was pretty phenomenal to watch.
Another really touching thing I’ll tell ya is that when my daughter was really young she came home one day and she says ‘I told my friends that you work for Van Halen and you know Eddie Van Halen and that you’ve met him. And they don’t believe me.’ I said, two things – first, they’re not really your friends if they’re saying that, and two, we’ll show them. So I told Edward that and I said when we play San Diego, I’d like to bring my daughter and get a picture with you. He said when you get the picture developed, bring it back and let me sign it so she can bring it to school. So he did and that was very cool that he did that.”
In addition to revealing a heart-melting memory with Eddie Van Halen, the bass technician also revealed a fact about the legendary guitarist, and apparently, Eddie hated being called ‘the best’ and being praised in the early years of his career due to his shyness and humble personality.
Here is what he revealed:
“He was always very friendly and giving to people. He was always very shy. At first, he hated it when people would call him the best and all that. He was a very humble guy back then. He and his brother couldn’t even speak English when they came here from Holland – they came from nowhere and they worked their way up and become this big success.”
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