“When Van Halen started out, there was no path to fame. We just played what we liked. Even today it always comes down to the simplicity of rock and roll.”

I grew up on a lot of early Beatles, DC5, Cream, Clapton, Page, Beck and Hendrix.

Nirvana was huge, but it didn’t appeal to everyone.

Best believe that needle hurt you Best to see these true colors Than follow one of your false virtues A little secret to make you think: Why is the crazy stuff we never say, poetry in ink?

The name Van Halen, the family legacy, is going to go on long after I’m gone.

The piano is a universal instrument. If you start there, learn your theory and how to read, you can go on to any other instrument.

I boil the strings so they stretch.

There are really three parts to the creative process. First there is inspiration, then there is the execution, and finally there is the release.

The stainless-steel frets were a major breakthrough, because of the amount of playing and bending that I do. I have to get my guitars refretted every couple of months.

Rock stars come and go. Musicians play until they die.

I think Clapton is brilliant. He’s the only one who moved me. The only one who made me want to play the guitar.

Holdsworth is so damned good that I can’t cop anything. I can’t understand what he’s doing. I’ve got to do this [does two-hand tapping], whereas he’ll do it with one hand.

It’s always a Catch-22 situation. They hate you if you’re the same, and they hate you if you’re different.

I have selective hearing.

I’m writing, and just doing the same thing I always do.

Every song is like a kid. How can you have that many kids and have a favorite? Which one do I like to hang most with?

A good producer brings out the best in the artist he’s working with. You shouldn’t be able to listen to something and say, ‘So-and-so produced this album.

The fame and the money doesn’t mean anything to me because it doesn’t bring me joy.

Wealth is like seawater; the more we drink, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame.

Toil and risk are the price of glory, but it is a lovely thing to live with courage and die leaving an everlasting fame.

I’m not in it for fame. I’ve been famous in the streets already.

If I celebrated every plaque I got I woulda been partyin all year.

When you getting money, it’s hard to tell who is with you.

I’m literally tryna turn into a Diamond.

I want to be one of the biggest social media stars ever to become an actor.