“He goes, ‘You’re not going to believe it. Eddie Van Halen is…

Michael Lemmo has recalled the time he crossed paths with Eddie Van Halen – because the late electric guitar god was dating his friend’s mom.

In a recent episode of Premier Guitar’s Rig Rundown, the Norms’ Rare Guitar regular reflected on the time when a new kid in town – and his mom – proved to be the key behind meeting one of his biggest heroes.

As Lemmo notes, he was only a 14-year-old when he met Eddie Van Halen, who had begun dating one of his friend’s mothers. It was at a time when rap was on the rise, and Lemmo’s burgeoning guitar talents were starting to appear (at least to himself) obsolete.

“When I was a kid, I used to cry about Eddie Van Halen, because this was when rap was mega,” he begins. “All my friends were like, ‘Van Halen is not cool.’ I was like, ‘I have a useless gift; no-one wants to hear this stuff.’”

However, Lemmo’s obsession with the guitar and Van Halen was soon to be vindicated, when he got the chance to meet his hero following a rather surreal phone call he received from a close friend.

“I was obsessed,” Lemmo continues. “Sure enough, after all that yearning, he was on tour – this was 2004 with Sammy Hagar – and he was dating my friend’s mom. It was my good friend Ryan Crosley, and he was new to the town. He’d just moved in.

“When I was a kid, I used to cry about Eddie Van Halen, because this was when rap was mega,” he begins. “All my friends were like, ‘Van Halen is not cool.’ I was like, ‘I have a useless gift; no-one wants to hear this stuff.’”