On the episode of SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” aired on Tuesday, August 8, Glenn Hughes, the iconic vocalist/bassist of DEEP PURPLE, expanded on his previous disclosure that he was once considered by Eddie Van Halen for the singer position in VAN HALEN.
This consideration took place almost four decades ago, when the Southern California rock band was in search of a fresh voice after David Lee Roth left the group.
Glenn said: “So the story is I was at Eddie‘s [Van Halen] house in the early ’90s. And if I may say so, Eddie was newly sober at that point. And we had a conversation about stuff from the ’80s. Eddie‘s manager, Noel Monk, was my tour manager in TRAPEZE back in the early ’70s. So Eddie said they were thinking about me prior to asking Sammy [Hagar] to come in. But the thing that stopped it was I wasn’t the man I am today in the mid-’80s, as you know; we all know that now.
“So he thought maybe it would have been a good idea, but would Glenn be the right guy? Was he steady to do that? And they got Sammy in. So we’ll never know. But it was an honor for Eddie to think that, you know, he would invite me to at least come down and have a sing. So, yeah, it would have been very, very interesting. But Eddie was very close, and I miss him dearly.”
Glenn also reminisced about his encounter with Eddie, an event he recounted as occurring approximately four and a half decades in the past.
He said: “1978 Thanksgiving, I found myself in Dallas, Texas. And I went to see BLACK SABBATH and there was an unknown band on the bill called VAN HALEN. I had not heard of them. They maybe had made a record. So I went down to the show early and I stood at the side of the stage, and lo and behold, I see this incredible band and this amazing guitar player. And, of course, their manager was my ex-tour manager. When they came off the stage, Noel Monk introduced me to the guys, and Eddie took me into a room and he had his guitar and he played some stuff to me. And ever since that day, Thanksgiving in ’78, Eddie and I became very close. So throughout the years we’d get together often. He was over my house a few times, and we were we were good friends.”
