In a recent interview on Metal Sticks with former Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, Alex Van Halen offered one of his clearest reflections yet on the first time he and brother Eddie Van Halen saw Black Sabbath live — a moment that left a lasting imprint on the young future founders of Van Halen.
Recounting the experience, Alex didn’t hold back his awe: “I had to stick my head in those low bins — it got blown off when Bill [Ward] was hammering the kick drum.” The sheer power of the drums and the visceral force of Sabbath’s performance hit him immediately, an audio assault that he still remembers with vivid clarity.
At the time, Sabbath was a towering presence in heavy rock, known for pioneering a sound that combined crushing riffs, thunderous rhythms and a dark, weighty intensity — long before subgenres like heavy metal were formalized. For the Van Halen brothers, who were still forming their own musical identity, witnessing that sonic power in person was both humbling and inspiring.
Interestingly, the event wasn’t just a casual night out: Van Halen later opened for Sabbath in 1978 on a U.S. tour leg, when the elder band was on the decline and Ozzy Osbourne’s departure was imminent. Despite the shifts in both bands’ fortunes, Alex made clear that their admiration was genuine. Van Halen was honored to be asked to support the act that had given them such a visceral early rock experience.
That breathtaking first live encounter — feeling the raw physics of Ward’s drums and Sabbath’s titanic sound — didn’t just impress Alex. It became part of the soundtrack that drove Van Halen’s own approach to rock performance and powered their hunger to shake audiences in return.
Today, Alex looks back on that night with pride and respect. It represents a formative encounter between two generations of rock, a moment where the thunder of one band fueled the fire of another — and helped set the stage for Van Halen’s own explosive impact on the genre.
