Sadly, scheduling conflicts led to Wolfgang Van Halen having to tug out of Black Sabbath’s historic farewell gig again in July. Nonetheless, Excessive’s Nuno Bettencourt thinks Wolfgang dodged a bullet, as a result of the setlist was full of some completely brutal guitar solos.

Whereas the night was branded as a Black Sabbath gig, the present in the end honoured Ozzy Osbourne’s impression on heavy steel. Because of this, that meant loads of The Prince of Darkness’ solo tracks had been on the setlist – and that meant tackling Randy Rhoads’ and Jake E. Lee’s intimidating solos.

“I received a name [saying] Wolfgang Van Halen simply dropped out…” he explains on Steve and Rik’s POTcast. “I stated ‘yeah, he’s dropping out as a result of he’s sensible! No person desires to play these fucking Randy Rhoads or Jake E. Lee solos!’”

It’s a strain Bettencourt wouldn’t want on anybody. “No person desires to fucking do it as a result of when you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there and all of your friends watching, your profession is over!” he says.

Whereas Bettencourt was initially solely requested to carry out two songs, he was blissful to step up and canopy for Wolfgang, taking up three extra tracks. Nonetheless, ultimately, he was requested to do much more. “I ended up enjoying 12 fucking songs,” he explains, nearly in disbelief.

Slightly than crumbling beneath the strain, Bettencourt dedicated himself to nailing each single monitor. “As a substitute of [just] studying them, I used to be like, ‘effectively, I’ve received to fucking personal this shit!’” he says.

“I simply wished to respect the songs [and] fucking go all in…” he later provides. “I used to be in right here for weeks for fucking like 4 or 5 hours a day standing up, performing the fuckers.”

Bettencourt’s dedication didn’t go unnoticed. In actual fact, Rick Beato rang him up after the present to congratulate him on a stand-out efficiency. “Rick Beato referred to as me up [and] he goes, ‘all people was raving about your efficiency!’” Bettencourt remembers.

“Then he goes, ‘one factor I observed is that you simply didn’t simply be taught the stuff – you carried out it. That’s what caught out for you greater than all people else.’”

Regardless of rejecting a proposal to hitch The Prince of Darkness’ band within the Nineteen Nineties, Bettencourt’s 12-song run proved that the rejection wasn’t a mirrored image of his emotions in the direction of the steel legend. In actual fact, it was proof of simply how a lot he revered Ozzy and his work.

In an interview with Web page Six on the crimson carpet on the VMAs, Bettencourt recalled his last alternate with Ozzy: “The final phrases we stated to one another once we took the large group picture, I grabbed his hand, saying, ‘Thanks for every thing, and thanks, Ozzy, for what you imply to me.’”

“Ozzy pulls me in by the hand, and he goes, ‘You had been the one guitar participant who stated no to me.’ However he laughed! He goes, ‘I like you and thanks for being right here.’”