More than six months after the Van Halen guitarist passed away, the Heart guitarist shares the story behind the making of '4 Edward', the closing instrumental on 'You and Me'.
- May 8, 2021
AceShowbiz - Heart star Nancy Wilson feared she had taken on too big a task in creating a track paying tribute to Eddie Van Halen on her debut solo album, because she knew it wouldn't be easy.
The singer has dedicated "4 Edward", the closing instrumental on "You and Me", to the late guitar great, but it took her a while to get the short, acoustic piece just right.
"Somebody asked me if I would do an instrumental on this album, and I said, 'Yes I will, and I will dedicate it to Edward Van Halen.' Then I immediately said, 'Oh no, what did I just get myself into?!'" Wilson laughed to Billboard.com. "So I had to come up with something worthy to dedicate to Eddie."
"I scanned all my notes on my recorder on my phone and various bits and bobs I had laying around, and I said, 'OK, there's that one part I've used on stage that's never been recorded...,' " she shared. "So that was a blueprint, but it was no easy task."
Van Halen, who was famously gifted a guitar by Wilson early on in his career, died in October 2020, and his close pal will treasure the memories she shared with the tragic rocker.
"[He was] a beautiful soul, a great inspiration... just so much joyfulness," she said. "When you see a picture of him and that smile, it looks like he was getting away with something, like illegal fun."
Wilson released "You and Me" on Friday, May 7.
