Once again, Mike D is getting on the mic. A couple of weeks ago, Mike D released his solo single “Switch Up,” the first new music from any Beastie Boy in 15 years. Recently, Mike has been playing shows with Very Nice Person, the band led by his sons Skyler and Davis Diamond, and he…
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In a new interview with Andy Guitar, Joe Satriani reflected on taking part in the 2024 “The Best of All Worlds” tour with Sammy Hagar, during which Hagar and his bandmates in The Circle — including Satriani and ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony — performed Van Halen material largely. Satriani discussed how he approached the challenge of learning and reproducing Eddie Van Halen‘s guitar parts.
Satriani told Andy Guitar (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, I definitely started with original recordings and just used my ear to get the chords and the arrangement. And that’s the easy part. The hard part is the quirky fingering string choices. Every guitar player we have our own pluses and minuses, and it might be speed, timing, touch, tone, intonation — all kinds of things that certain people have a lot of, and then there are areas where we’re kind of deficient. And so, yeah, you have to kind of come up against that and see, like, ‘Well, how do I measure up in that particular area, and how do I work around it?’ But I think one thing that really helped me was this amazing community — these guitar players of all ages dedicated so many hours to figuring out exactly how Ed played a lot of these songs. And so I would, after I learned the song, I’d go, and I’d spend an hour or two on YouTube just watching how other people address this immense problem of trying to emulate Ed‘s playing. And you can’t capture the magic, but you can get pretty close to the fingering, and some players are better than others.”
He added: “There are players out there like Phil X [Bon Jovi and Triumph] who will play great Van Halen songs without any vibrato bar. And it reminds you that the spirit is sometimes more important than just imitating the part. There are a lot of ways. And then when you go deep into any live clips or if you have memories of seeing Van Halen, as I do, you remember, like, ‘Oh, yeah, [Ed] played it differently every single time.’ He shocked you with how he would just forget about some part or purposely not play it the way it is on the record, and just replace it with something you never expected. And you loved it anyway.”
Satriani also spoke at length about the experience in a separate December 2023 interview with Ultimate Guitar‘s Justin Beckner. He described the particular difficulty of shifting his own deeply ingrained stylistic habits to serve Van Halen‘s music: “The main thing is that for the last five decades I’ve tried so hard to be myself and to be me and not copy anybody. I’ve been lucky, since the late ’80s, to have a solo career, so I really had a job that forced me to be myself as much as possible. So I made a point not to play like anybody.”
Satriani identified three specific areas where Eddie‘s sensibility differed sharply from his own. First, timing: “He plays so on the beat and makes it feel like he’s pushing the beat, but he’s actually not. It’s really amazing how he does it. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s me, sitting on the backbeat as much as I can,’ because I’m playing the melody. When you play the melody, you don’t wanna be on top… And all of a sudden, you go to play a song like ‘I’m the One,’ and it’s like, ‘No, you have to be the guy way in front.’ Every nerve ending in your body is saying, ‘Sit back.’ But to make the song work, you’ve gotta sit forward.”
Second, technique: “Our vibratos aren’t that different. He holds his pick [with his thumb and middle finger], so he’s always got [his index] finger for tapping, and I don’t. The way that he would do the tapping, when he would use it, [was] opposite of the way that I had forced myself to go with it.” Third, right-hand speed: “One of the things that Eddie had was this super-tight swing that was ultrafast with his right hand. I remember hearing for the first time and thinking, ‘Well, I’m gonna have to work on that.’ That’s gonna take me, I thought, three months of 45 minutes a day just working with a metronome to work that into my bag of tricks.”
Satriani, Hagar, and Anthony previously worked together in the supergroup Chickenfoot, recording two albums between 2009 and 2011 and touring across America — though the group never performed any Van Halen material. Hagar and Anthony had also performed the Van Halen catalog with guitarist Vic Johnson and drummer Jason Bonham in Sammy Hagar and the Circle before the “Best of All Worlds” run.
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Atlanta’s Ultra Lights announced themselves with last year’s self-titled EP, a brilliant set of songs beer-battered in the best indie, post-punk, and rock ‘n’ roll the late 20th century had to offer. Today the group is back with news of their full-length debut album, Pleasure’s All Yours. The record is out in July via Chunklet,…
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Holograms have been the future for a while now. The most recent celebrity to be immortalized via this technology is the late Ozzy Osbourne. During the second day of the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas this past Wednesday, Sharon Osbourne and Jack Osbourne revealed that they’ve partnered with the company HYPERREAL to configure “the digital DNA of Ozzy Osbourne, voice, image [and] movement” into a hologram avatar. According to Billboard, the life-sized interactive Ozzy will appear in the US and UK later this summer. Frankly, I am scared.
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The complicated history of Iron Maiden has taken a “harrowing” and controversial turn. Wes Orshoski, the acclaimed director behind the upcoming film Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer, has revealed that the current members of Iron Maiden and their management officially refused to participate in the making of the documentary.
Labeled a “massive bummer” by Orshoski, the snub highlights the deep, unresolved tension surrounding the band’s original frontman. As the film prepares for its June 9, 2026, premiere, it promises an unvarnished, “warts-and-all” look at a man who spent his final years in a wheelchair, battling both physical decay and the “demons” of his own legacy.
In a revealing new interview with Billboard, director Wes Orshoski (who also helmed the definitive Lemmy documentary) didn’t hold back regarding the lack of support from the Maiden camp. After signing the contract with Cleopatra Entertainment, his first move was to reach out to the band’s long-time manager.
“Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was very kind, but immediately told me that neither he nor any of the current bandmembers would be participating,” Orshoski stated. “Obviously, it was a massive bummer, but not unexpected.”
While Steve Harris and the rest of the band appear in the film via archival footage, the refusal to sit for new interviews suggests that the “Beast” of Paul’s era remains a polarizing figure within the multi-platinum machine of modern Iron Maiden.
The documentary, shot between 2017 and 2023, captures Di’Anno at his lowest ebb. Orshoski describes a man of extreme duality—an “absolute sweetheart” who could transform into a “demon” without warning.
“I tried to show both sides in the film,” Wes explained. “When he was in a great mood, he could be super fun and a blast. Zero ego. But when the Mr. Hyde side of him reared its head, it could be ugly for everyone within earshot. And he was sort of unapologetic about that nastiness.”
The film even captures a raw moment where the director and Di’Anno are seen screaming at each other on camera while Paul was in a care center in Croatia. Orshoski later called Paul in Mexico to apologize, only to find the singer more interested in his lunch than the argument—a testament to the strange “grace” Paul possessed even in his darkest hours.
While the “official” Maiden camp stayed away, the film documents the incredible efforts of the fans who kept Paul alive. London’s Kastro Pergjoni and Croatian writer Stjepan Juras spearheaded the crowdfunding campaigns that allowed Di’Anno to receive the surgeries and care that U.K. doctors had reportedly refused to greenlight.
The documentary follows this journey from a wheelchair-bound nosedive during the pandemic to a heroic return to the stage, proving that despite the professional snubs, the global metal community never abandoned the voice of Killers.
When does the Paul Di’Anno documentary come out? The North American premiere takes place at the Lumiere Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills on June 9, 2026. This is also the official release date for digital VOD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats.
Are there other metal stars in the film? Yes. Despite the current Maiden line-up’s absence, the film features appearances by James Hetfield (Metallica), Gene Simmons (Kiss), and members of Exodus, Slayer, Megadeth, and Sepultura.
What years does the documentary cover? Director Wes Orshoski filmed Di’Anno on and off from 2017 to 2023, capturing his health decline, his time in Croatia, and his final return to live performance.
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Director Wes Orshoski reveals that Iron Maiden management and members refused to participate in the new Paul Di’Anno documentary, calling it a “massive bummer.” The “warts-and-all” film, premiering June 9, 2026, documents the late singer’s final years, his health struggles, and his fan-funded recovery in Croatia.
Is Iron Maiden’s refusal to participate a move to protect their brand, or does it disrespect the man who helped build their foundation? Let us know in the comments.
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Lately, people have been worried about Phil Collins’ health. Collins, now 75, sustained nerve damage in a 2007 spinal injury. On Genesis’ 2022 farewell tour, Collins wasn’t able to play the drums, and his son Nic took over. In an interview published last year, Collins said that he hasn’t been able to work on new music lately: “The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean, very sick.” Today, though, Collins says that he’s generally doing better, though he won’t perform when he’s inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year.
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