Watch Paul Shaffer have the time of his life rocking out with Eddie Van Halen on Letterman

By Reid McCarter  |  October 7, 2020 | 3:40pm
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Watch Paul Shaffer have the time of his life rocking out with Eddie Van Halen on Letterman
Screenshot: CBS

Following the news that Eddie Van Halen died yesterday, David Letterman’s band leader Paul Shaffer tweeted that, “Of all the guitarists I got to play with, he was my favorite.”

In case anyone questions the sincerity of this, Don Giller has compiled a half hour video of Van Halen’s Letterman appearances that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Shaffer loved the opportunity to play music with him.

Described by Letterman as “our special friend playing with the band tonight,” and by Shaffer as “an innovator and… just a nutty kind of a guy,” Van Halen is first shown playing with the show’s band on May 16, 1985. Shaffer looks like he’s having a ball while Van Halen rips through an instrumental version of “Pretty Woman,” his own band’s “Jump,” and “Sunshine Of Your Love.” (There are a whole lot of Cream covers throughout his appearances on the show.)

In another visit on June 27, 1985, he sat in with Shaffer’s band during his wife Valerie Bertinelli’s guest appearance on the show before performing “Panama.” Shaffer introduces him this time by saying he’s “having the time of my life.” The last clip comes from August 10, 1995, when Van Halen (the whole band) appeared as the episode’s musical guests, later joining the house band to play “Jump.”

For more, read our staff’s favorite memories of Eddie Van Halen or other tributes to the late guitarist from fellow musicians.

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