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While the public might have looked at Steve Vai as a rival to Eddie Van Halen at one point, that was never the case as far as Vai was concerned.
Vai's participation in David Lee Roth's first solo band automatically pitted him against Van Halen in some fans' eyes. But Vai tells CMS Network that playing with Roth only deepened his appreciation for Eddie; he considered it "a complete honor" to play Van Halen songs during those early live shows with Roth.
When Eddie passed away last October at age 65, Vai was devastated like any other fan. He says he turned to philosophy to help him in mourning, like he has many times before.
"...[E]verything in this world is coming and going and coming and going and coming and going. And if it doesn't go, it only means you went before it — we don't know when!" Vai said. "So that's something that helps me to get through the loss because it's just going to happen."
He continued, noting that Eddie lived "a beautiful, amazing ride."
"He had a great run, and it's not like he died at 27," Vai said. "We don't want to see anybody like that — we want to squeeze every note out of them."