The Guitarist Eddie Van Halen Wished To Take Guitar Lessons From, Alice Cooper Revealed

During a recent appearance on BBC’s ‘The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker,’ Alice Cooper discussed his passion for golf and revealed the late Eddie Van Halen wanted him to set up a guitarist to give him lessons.

During the golf discussion, he shared an anecdote involving the Van Halen rocker. He shared the story of their golf playing session:

“One time Eddie Van Halen called me up and said, ‘Hey, I wanna come to Arizona and play golf.’ And I went, ‘Okay, great.’ Now, Eddie, after the first game of golf, he said, ‘How’s my game?’ And I went, ‘Eddie, you are a great guitar player.’ And he says, ‘Yeah, but what about my game?’ I go, ‘Eddie, you’re a great songwriter.'”

According to Cooper, Eddie Van Halen reached out to him with a request– to arrange a guitar lesson with a famous guitar player. Highlighting the musical talent of the guitarist, he continued:

“The real reason he came in, he says, ‘Okay, let me tell you the real reason I wanted to come in. I need for you to get me a guitar lesson with Glen Campbell.’ Glen Campbell was such a great guitarist that other guitar players could hear what he was doing and go, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s amazing.’ So Glen Campbell was going to give Eddie Van Halen a guitar lesson.”

Did The Lesson Ever Happen?

In the same interview, Cooper was asked whether or not the lessons actually took place. He responded with the following:

“Oh yeah. He came over to the house. Glen lived pretty close to me, and they sat down, and he said, ‘Eddie, sit down. There’s a guitar right over there.'”

Eddie Van Halen isn’t the only rocker in the story to admire Campbell. In an earlier interview, just a day after Eddie Van Halen’s passing, the rocker talked about the same story and considered Campbell as one of the greatest guitarists.

Campbell and Cooper’s Relationship After the Lessons

Eddie took lessons from Campbell, but was his relationship with Cooper over after that point? It was not.

The two rockers’ relationship had gone on for many years. In their later years, Cooper and Campbell were still golfing buddies who played together once or twice weekly. The two also got sober and moved to Phoenix after.

When Campbell passed away in 2017, Cooper said of his friend that he is in a better place now and that the two were ‘survivors.’ So, just like the late Eddie, the two also admired each other’s talent until his passing away.