“They used a lot of the old tricks that we all kind of did”: Aerosmith Recall Being ‘Annoyed’ by Van Halen at First
When Van Halen exploded onto the rock scene in the late 1970s, they immediately drew comparisons to Aerosmith, who were already established as America’s premier hard rock band. Both groups were loud, flashy, and unapologetically over the top. But according to members of Aerosmith, the initial reaction to the new kids on the block wasn’t exactly welcoming.
“They used a lot of the old tricks that we all kind of did,” an Aerosmith member admitted in a past interview, reflecting on the early days of Van Halen. “At first, it annoyed us. You’d look at the stage and think—hey, wait a minute, that’s our thing.”
What Aerosmith meant by “old tricks” wasn’t just about musical style. It was the combination of sleazy swagger, blues-driven riffs, and wild stage theatrics that Aerosmith had built their identity around. Suddenly, here was a California band taking those elements, amplifying them with Eddie Van Halen’s revolutionary guitar wizardry, and pushing the energy to new extremes.
Despite the initial frustration, Aerosmith soon came to respect what Van Halen brought to the table. Eddie’s jaw-dropping two-handed tapping, David Lee Roth’s acrobatics, and the band’s larger-than-life sound weren’t just imitations—they were innovations that would shift the entire rock landscape.
By the early 1980s, Aerosmith and Van Halen had carved out distinct legacies, but that early tension highlights just how disruptive Van Halen was to the rock hierarchy. Aerosmith’s annoyance quickly gave way to admiration, as both bands went on to dominate arenas and inspire generations of rock acts.
What started as rivalry turned into recognition: Van Halen hadn’t stolen Aerosmith’s thunder—they had ignited a whole new storm.
