Jerry Cantrell and Eddie Van Halen’s memorable gift

Jerry Cantrellleader of the Alice In Chainstold a memorable anecdote about his friendship with Eddie Van Halen in a recent interview with “Gibson TV”.

The story dates back to 1991, when Alice In Chains were chosen as the opening act for the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour, the Van Halen tour led by Sammy Hagar. Cantrell’s band was chosen because of the MTV success of songs like “Man in the Box.”

According to Cantrell, meeting Eddie for the first time was an incredible experience: Shortly before going on stage, Van Halen was doing ladder exercises in the pit (the area in front of the stage), with his wife Valerie Bertinelli next to him and their son Wolfgang in his arms. Cantrell says he didn’t fully enjoy that first performance because he was too excited to play there with Eddie so close.

During the tour the two became friends, often chatting about instruments and equipment. Cantrell was particularly intrigued by the Peavey 5150 amplifiers that Eddie was using, as well as the Ernie Ball Music Man EVH Signature guitars that the American guitarist brought with him.

At one point Cantrell jokingly said he wanted to buy one of those discounted guitars. Eddie replied without thinking twice:

Fuck man, I’ll give it to you! Everyone gives me free stuff now, now that I can actually afford it. When I couldn’t afford it, no one gave me anything. So let me do this for you!

When the tour ended, Cantrell returned home with the band’s manager, Kelly Curtisand was greeted by a surprising message: Curtis told him that he had to clear out the garage, because it had been filled with instruments and amplifiers by Eddie Van Halen himself, to the point that you couldn’t even park your car there anymore.