In one of the weirder stories in rock history, guitar hero Eddie Van Halen once jammed with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. The tale doesn't stop there however, and indeed takes a bizarre turn, for, following the session, Van Halen apparently returned to Durst's house in a tank, gun in hand, to pick up some equipment he left behind.
According to details in the photobook Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights With the Genius of Eddie Van Halen by Andrew Bennett, the strange altercation took place following guitarist Wes Borland's departure from Limp Bizkit in 2001.
In the search for a replacement, the nu metal band held auditions, but were shortly distracted by the prospect of jamming with a guitar legend, the one and only Eddie Van Halen.
Durst reportedly met Van Halen at a party, during which a record-label executive suggested they team up together. As documented by Bennett, the Limp Bizkit vocalist was thrilled by the idea, and said: "That would be hilarious. The greatest guitar player ever plays with the worst band ever". In response, Van Halen said “F*ck it, let’s jam.”
The pair met up at Durst's house in Beverly Hills and began jamming, although EVH soon found himself disappointed, and described the experience as like "being a scholar amongst kindergartners". Apparently, the session soon turned into a drug-orientated escapade, as the band started to smoke weed.
As he wasn't a fan of the drug, Halen shortly left the jam, and accidentally left his musical equipment, such as his guitars and amps, behind him.
The next day, the guitarist tried to contact Durst to retrieve his belongings, but was ignored, which he found upsetting. After waiting another 24 hours, Halen decided to fetch his gear himself, with added precautions to make sure he wouldn't leave empty handed.
In his book, Bennett writes: “Eddie once bought an assault vehicle from a military auction. It has a shine gun mount on the back and is not legal. Eddie drove that assault vehicle through L.A., into Beverly Hills, then parked and left it running on the front lawn of the house Limp Bizkit was rehearsing in.
"He got out wearing no shirt, his hair in a Samurai bun on top of his head, his jeans held up with a strand of rope and combat boots held together by duct tape. And he had a gun in his hand.”
Retelling the moment from Van Halen's perspective, he continues, “'That a**hole answered the door. I put my gun to that stupid f*cking red hat of his, and I said, ‘Where’s my sh*t, motherf*cker?’ That f*cking guy just turned to one of his employees and starts yelling at him to grab my sh*t...'
"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.”
Rock stars: a breed apart.