Orianthi discussed Eddie Van Halen calling her after Michael Jackson hired her as his guitarist in 2009. Michael Jackson ‘Crazy Schedule’ Before Death Leaks.
Orianthi told Let There Be Talk, “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.”
“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.”
“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.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed her comments.
