Nuno Bettencourt on Eddie Van Halen Grammy snub: "Rock will never die, but its respect is hanging by a thread"

A montage of Eddie Van Halen and Nuno Bettencourt — (Image credit: Getty Images/Ethan Miller/Future)

The tribute to Eddie Van Halen at this year's Grammys was met with criticism from many in the rock world, who felt it didn't do justice to the guitar legend who passed away last October.

In the tribute, a short clip of Eddie Van Halen performing Eruption was played while a spotlight shone on one of his familiar striped guitars.

Earlier this week, Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen expressed his disappointment with the tribute, saying that he'd been invited to play the event but didn't feel comfortable doing so, and was "hurt" by what they ended up using instead.

Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme has commented on the tribute, which he did via his Facebook page, saying that what the Grammys did was "disrespectful".

In his post, Nuno wrote: "You would think, considering his impact on Rock and Roll, that the Grammy’s would have given the Legacy of Edward Van Halen more than 15 seconds of a humiliating live clip that ended in a flat note. Not only was the clip disrespectful, but to not get a tribute performance from his legendary guitar piers is shameful and a missed historical opportunity."

He added that: "Edward single handedly, or should we say double handedly, reimagined, reinvented and changed the way the instrument would ever be played or heard, ever again," and later added: "Like Jordon with basketball, Edward would change how guitar would be played forever."

He went on to speak about how "rock and roll has been forgotten and left behind", adding: "Not by its fans, thankfully. Or the artists keeping it alive and well. But definitely in our mainstream music industry of Auto Tune driven Vocals and pushing buttons chosen over actual musicians playing instruments."

He concluded: "Rock Is not dead, And will NEVER die, but it’s respect is hanging by a thread. And for what Rock and Roll did for nearly a century to get us here to all these different genres... it deserves just a little more respect and has earned the right to be celebrated at the Grammys. But who’s gives a fuck what I think. Either way... see you at the next Rock concert!!!!! #longliverockandroll"

Read his full statements below.

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