The Real Reason Eddie Van Halen Once Put A Gun To Fred Durst's Head
Conflict management is an important aspect of any business venture. Interpersonal disputes are unavoidable, even and especially in those rare cases where two monoliths in their field come together. Sometimes, these feuds lead to something magnificent — most historians now agree that there would never have been a Justice League had Batman not v'd Superman. Other times, all that results is a smoldering pile of violently lost potential.
All of which brings us to the year 2001, a moment in time potent with cultural strife. It was around this time that video director Andrew Bennett recalls an unlikely meeting of the minds took place, a musical pairing so implausible as to seem absurd. As relayed by Ultimate Classic Rock, it was a magical point in history when, through unlikely circumstances and light studio finagling, Eddie Van Halen auditioned to join Limp Bizkit.
Kind of. It didn't go great. Eddie wound up storming Beverly Hills in a Rollin' Urban Assault Vehicle and Fred Durst got a gun pointed at his bizkit.
What's the durst that could happen?
The story goes that Limp Bizkit was in need of a new guitarist after the departure of mainstay Wes Borland. Lead singer Fred Durst was introduced to rock legend Eddie Van Halen at a party and, with some coaxing from an unnamed studio exec, the two were convinced to collaborate.
Things started out unspectacularly at a house Durst occupied in Beverly Hills, but took a hard left turn when the collective Bizkits broke out that most unspeakable of narcotic scourges, the demon marijuana. Eddie, not a fan of such shenanigans, exited the premises. The next day, Eddie Van Halen contacted Durst about retrieving some musical equipment left at the house. When he didn't hear back after 24 hours, he did what any reasonable man would do in the situation: he drove an illegal assault vehicle he'd purchased at a military auction back to the house and held Durst at gunpoint until his entourage loaded his property into the car.
So if your parents tell you that no good can come from smoking the reefer, just remember what Fred Durst learned at the turn of the 21st century: sometimes, it really can be dangerous. Sometimes, cracking into that devil's lettuce ends with the man voted Guitar World's Greatest Guitarist of All Time coming to your house and pointing a gun at your head.