Ann And Nancy Wilson Reveals Eddie and Alex Van Halen Tried To Sleep With Them
via AXS TV / Youtube
In an intriguing chapter of rock history, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, the legendary brothers behind the rock band Van Halen, once tried to get close to Ann and Nancy Wilson, the iconic members of the rock band Heart. This story came to light during an interview on the Howard Stern Show, where the Wilson sisters shared this little-known tale from their past.
The Van Halen Brothers and A Night to Remember
Howard Stern, ever curious about the personal lives of his guests, asked the sisters about the rumors he heard. Nancy Wilson responded with a remark that highlighted the absurdity of the situation, comparing it to something out of a publicity stunt:
“It was like a publicist’s kind of dream. Like the guys in KISS. Like a publicist’s dream, the Wilson sisters and the guys in KISS.”
This comparison alone paints a picture of the surreal nature of the proposition by the Van Halen brothers.
When Stern pressed on, wanting to know more about how Eddie and Alex approached them, Ann Wilson revealed that it happened “just during a long night of reveling.” Nancy added, remarking on the spontaneity and perhaps the lack of thought that went into the proposal,
“Yeah, one of many bad ideas one night.”
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Wild Beginnings and Lasting Bonds Between Heart and Van Halen
The beginnings of their acquaintance can be traced back to an anecdote shared in Heart’s memoir, ‘Kicking And Dreaming: A Story Of Heart, Soul And Rock & Roll’, written by Jessica Hopper. Nancy Wilson recounted an incident that set the stage for their relationship with the Van Halen brothers.
“At one hotel, we met Eddie and Alex Van Halen. Over the course of a few hours, they had a Kamikaze-drinking contest, followed by a cocaine-snorting fest. Once they were good and loose, they got into a fistfight. Moments later, they were hugging each other and falling down, saying, ‘I love you so much, man.’ They would cycle through this pattern every hour.”
Despite the turmoil of their first encounter, there were also moments of genuine connection and mutual respect. Heart and Van Halen crossed paths several times in the 1980s, sharing stages where Heart often opened for Van Halen. These interactions paved the way for a special moment between Nancy Wilson and Eddie Van Halen. In 2021, after Eddie’s passing, Nancy paid tribute to him through a song titled ‘4 Eddie’ from her solo album ‘You and Me.’ She dedicated it to Eddie, recalling a moment they shared related to music and guitars. In a conversation, Eddie complimented Nancy’s acoustic guitar skills, to which she expressed surprise upon learning he didn’t own an acoustic guitar. So, she gave him one of hers. Nancy reminisced about how Eddie had called her hotel room one morning, thrilled about a song he wrote on the acoustic guitar she had given him. She described the piece he played as beautiful and aimed to capture that beauty in her tribute, ‘4 Eddie.’
You can watch the interview below:
