Nuno Bettencourt was among the many who weren’t pleased with the Eddie Van Halen tribute during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, but the guitarist did have a fantastic idea on what the tribute should’ve been.
Bettencourt shared his thoughts in a lengthy Facebook post where he detailed his idea.
“…It should have been the world’s greatest current guitarists up on that stage performing a medley-tribute of EVHs’ greatest moments,” wrote Bettencourt. “And imagine the finale where the end the medley ALL PLAYING TOGETHER the guitar solo that got him that Jordan-Esque Global recognition. THE solo that Edward threw down for another King… of Pop. ‘BEAT IT.’”
Bettencourt added, “At the very least if the Grammys didn’t want to waste air time on rock and roll they could have taken advantage of Michael Jackson’s name and had Bruno Mars sing ‘Beat It’ with an iconic guitarist ripping the solo. ANYTHING other than those 15 seconds of Eddie they callously threw on there.”
Following the negative reaction to the EVH Grammy tribute, Wolfgang Van Halen took to social media to respond to all of the feedback. He explained that the Grammys approached him to play “Eruption” for the “In Memoriam” segment. Wolfgang, however, said he declined and explained, “I don’t think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself.”
He continued, “It was my understanding that there would be an ‘In Memoriam’ section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed. I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of 4 full performances for others we had lost. ”
Wolfgang added, “What hurt the most was that he wasn’t even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show. I know rock isn’t the most popular genre right now, (and the academy does seem a bit out of touch) but I think it’s impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock, and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.”
He continued, “I’m not looking to start some kind of hate parade here, I just wanted to explain my side. I know Pop would probably just laugh it off and say, ‘Ehh who gives a s—?’ He was only about the music anyway. The rest didn’t matter.”
Wolfgang concluded, “I’d love to get the opportunity to speak with The Recording Academy not only about the legacy of my father, but the legacy of the Rock genre moving forward. Thank you.”