Author Claims Eddie Van Halen Once Pointed a Gun at Fred Durst’s Head
Did Eddie Van Halen point a gun at Fred Durst’s head? That’s what the author / curator of a new Eddie Van Halen photobook claims. In the book, Andrew Bennett writes that the guitar god threatened Durst with a weapon while attempting to get gear from the Limp Bizkit frontman.
Bennett claims the incident happened shortly after Wes Borland quit Limp Bizkit in 2001. The nu-metal leaders were holding auditions to replace Borland, and when Durst just happened to meet Eddie Van Halen at a party, it was suggested by a record label executive that the two collaborate.
Durst allegedly responded, “That would be hilarious. The greatest guitar player ever plays with the worst band ever.” However Van Halen was into the idea, “Fuck it, let’s jam.”
A jam reportedly took place in Beverly Hills, but Bennett says Van Halen left after various individuals started smoking weed, which offended the “Eruption” shredder. Leaving abruptly, Van Halen did not grab his guitars, amps and other gear with him.
The next day, Van Halen attempted to get his stuff back, but after not hearing back from Durst for 24 hours, Eddie drove to the house in a military vehicle he had bought at an auction.
Wearing no shirt, jeans held up by a strand of rope, combat boots held together by duct tape and his hair in a Samurai bun, Van Halen allegedly dropped by with a gun in his hand.
“That asshole answered the door," Bennett recalled Van Halen explaining. "I put my gun to that stupid fucking red hat of his, and I said, ‘Where’s my shit, motherfucker?’ That fucking guy just turned to one of his employees and starts yelling at him to grab my shit. ... Eddie Van Halen stood on the front lawn of a residential home in Beverly Hills in broad daylight, smoking a cigarette while holding a gun on Fred Durst as he went back and forth from the house to the assault vehicle, lugging amps and guitars.” [via Ultimate Classic Rock]
Bennett’s book, Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights With the Genius of Eddie Van Halen, can be purchased here.
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