It’s a question that could have changed the face of rock music in the 80’s, a question that would have altered the paths of many careers, A QUESTION that could have completely altered genre’s of music, and that question is…can Edward Van Halen join Kiss?!
This story is well known in the lore of both bands, but only in the last few years has there been actual confirmation from some of the major players, as Gene Simmons and Ed commented on it. To understand how the question could have even come about one has to look a little into the past.
If you don’t know already, back in the day, when Van Halen was a local L.A. band on the Sunset Strip bringing the house down at the Starwood, the band was in the middle of a show at a locla club, when their show was seen by an incognito Gene Simmons who was there to see another band. This lead to Gene offering to help the band break into the business, by working with them on their demo and attempting to get them signed. After, getting a luke warm reception, from both Kiss’s producer Bob Ezrin and some of the members of the band, Gene ripped up the contract he had with Van Halen so they could be free to sign with another label, which they did when they signed with Warner Bros.
Van Halen kept their relationship with Kiss as they proceeded to redefine rock music in the late 70’s and into the early 80’s, but that trail they blazed came with consequences. Years of hard touring and divisions in wanting to evolve their sound led to fights between David Lee Roth and Ed. 1981’s “Fair Warning“, may have been the shining jewell of Van Halen’s catalogue at the time, but it was a hard time for all in the recording of it. The album and the subsequent tour drove Edward into the ground and he needed a break from both Roth and the road.