Why Rockers Couldn't Stand Eddie Van Halen?

[Nitro Express]

I had Dave Friedman mod one of my amps. He was open to doing mods during the COVID slowdown so I took advantage of it. Man. The guy does a top notch wiring stuff. Anyways Dave has worked with Eddie over the years and he said Eddie just had a strong personality. He could be frustrating at times but he said Eddie could also be very nice. The guy had so many people after him all the time and he had substance abuse issues as well. For the most part I’ve heard people say more good things about Eddie than bad things.

[Nitro Express]

Yeah, but going back at least as far as 1982 it was clear Ed didn't value what Mike brought to the band.

Mike was loyal to the band. To his own detriment. Me, I'd like to think I would have walked in 1984 when the Van Halens and Roth kneecapped my cut of the profits. Mike remained loyal. Mike was for all intents and purposes out of the band by the time the Sam and Dave tour rolled around. Come 2004, the Van Halens didn't even want Anthony on the tour and had [Anthony] sign away more rights to the Van Halen brand name to participate. Mike went ahead and did the tour.

By the time Ed's mother died, doesn't sound to me like there was much of anything the Van Halens and Mike had left to say to one another. By the time Ed died, 15 MORE years had passed. The communication during that time apparently consisted of Mike speaking to Alex on the phone once for 20 minutes.

Doesn't even sound like there WAS a relationship of any sort when Ed's mom died nor when Ed died. Why WOULD Mike make condolence calls in that case? Like ZahZoo said, Ed could have reached out to Mike at any time.

Me personally, by the time the 2004 tour was done, I'd be done reaching out to the Van Halens had I the type of relationship Anthony had with them.

Have had several relationships over the last decade or so, with both friends and family, where I was always the one initiating the contacts (phone calls, emails, etc.). Sort of woke up a few years ago and asked myself were any of these relationships worth it if I'm the only one making the effort? Turns out not in those instances: once I stopped making the effort via contacting and got zero response in return, I let those relationships go.

Mike couldn't have meant much to Ed if Ed couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone and say so. And that whole "Mike didn't call me when my mommy died" smacks of a bullshit rationale excuse for Ed to do what he had apparently wanted to for years, which is chuck Mike out of the group. So, fine, chuck him out of the group. Don't call him for 15 years. Don't do those things and expect the guy to reach out to you when you're ill. That's just bullshit, pure and simple.

Mike was low man on the totem pole but his background vocals made Dave sound better and he was the perfect fit musically and with all the ego and dysfunction the band didn’t need another ego or whack job. But Mike was smart. He knew if he bailed from Van Halen he probably wouldn’t be making as much money. He knew he was riding the big rocket and hell the guy lives on the Newport Beach marina and has a bunch of cool cars he needs a warehouse to store them in. Mike did ok.