When Eric Clapton Slammed Eddie Van Halen and Brian May’s Tribute

Rockapedia

Rock history is full of unlikely rivalries, awkward meetings, and moments when heroes turn out to be… well, a little less heroic. One of the most awkward of them all came in the mid-1980s when Eric Clapton - a guitarist worshipped by generations - publicly tore apart a tribute recording made by two of the most respected guitarists of the era: Eddie Van Halen and Brian May.

And the sting? Eddie Van Halen had spent years idolizing Clapton.

Eddie Van Halen’s Early Guitar Hero

In early interviews, Eddie Van Halen would often say that Eric Clapton had been a major influence on him as a guitar player. Although he was also a fan of Hendrix, for a young Van Halen, Clapton was the guy.

Eddie spent hours trying to replicate Clapton’s playing, especially the late-1960s material from Cream. He’d sit with records, working out parts note-for-note, trying to understand how Clapton built solos and phrased blues licks.

For a generation of guitarists, Clapton was the blueprint.

Which makes what happened next even more painful.

The saying never meet your heroes could easily be re-written as never pay tribute to your hero. That’s the lesson Van Halen would learn when a well-meaning musical gesture ended up drawing nothing but anger from Clapton.

Blues Breaker

In 1983, Queen guitarist Brian May was recording material for a solo project and invited Eddie Van Halen to drop by the sessions. One of the tracks May was working on was his version of the theme from the sci-fi puppet series Star Fleet (X Bomber). Eddie joined in and the session quickly turned into something more spontaneous.

The two guitarists ended up recording two additional tracks, including a double-lead jam titled Blues Breaker, complete with the tag: Dedicated to E.C.

The dedication wasn’t random.

The legendary album John Mayall’s Blues Breakers (often called the Beano Album) featured a young Eric Clapton and is widely hailed as one of the first true guitar-hero albums - the kind that made players want to pick up a Les Paul and crank an amp.

So May and Van Halen figured: why not salute the man who helped start it all?

After trading licks back and forth in the studio, both guitarists were thrilled with how the jam turned out. Brian May later described the moment:

When we were trading solos… we were feeding off each other. We'd never played together before, and yet the chemistry is there. It was as spontaneous as anything could be.

Proud of the result, May sent a copy of the recording to Clapton as a mark of respect from two younger guitar players. Unfortunately, Clapton didn’t exactly appreciate the gesture.

Clapton’s Brutal Response

Speaking with Musician Magazine in 1986, Clapton gave his thoughts on the recording - and he didn’t hold back.

One side was a kind of a fusion thing – really very interesting, great to listen to – and the other side was a blues jam.

It was so horrible. And they dedicated it to me. They sent me a copy, and I put it on, expecting something, and, you know, I was almost insulted that they should send this to me.

And he wasn’t finished.

Clapton doubled down with a criticism that shocked plenty of guitar fans:

Because they both… they can't play! They took turns to play solos, and just went head-at-it, with everything they knew. And there was no dynamics, no build-up, no sensitivity. I was very disappointed.

Calling two of the most respected guitarists in rock history players who can’t play was...bold, to say the least.

What Eddie Van Halen Thought of Clapton

Unsurprisingly, the comments cooled any chance of a relationship between Van Halen and Clapton. Still, Eddie never completely lost respect for Clapton’s influence on the instrument. In his early years, Van Halen had spent countless hours studying Clapton’s Cream recordings, trying to understand every detail of his phrasing and tone. He even got the chance to see his hero live during the Derek and the Dominos era, but the experience didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Eddie later admitted:

To be honest with you, I was expecting something more powerful. If I would’ve seen Cream, I probably would’ve been blown away, because that’s the era of Clapton that I really loved.

Instead, the show felt very different from the fiery blues power he’d heard on those late-60s records.

The show was more of a Doobie Brothers kind of thing – there was like this tambourine and bongo player. The power wasn’t there...

It was a rare moment where one generation of guitar heroes collided with another - and the result wasn’t admiration, but criticism. Still, time has a funny way of smoothing over moments like this. Today, all three guitarists sit comfortably in the pantheon of rock legends.

But for one awkward chapter in the mid-80s, a tribute meant as respect turned into one of the most brutally honest - and slightly uncomfortable - moments in guitar history.