VAN HALEN Performs At BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS After Being Introduced By TAYLOR SWIFT

May 17, 2015

VAN HALEN opened tonight's (Sunday, May 18) Billboard Music Awards with a blazing rendition of the band's smash hit "Panama".

The aging rock act was introduced by pop superstar Taylor Swift, a move which got mixed reviews on social media. One viewer tweeted: "When VAN HALEN is introduced by Taylor Swift, we have fuckin problems!!! That image is burned into my fuckin' brain! Music has fallen!!!" Another viewer wrote: "Hmm... What is this thing called #Taylorswift ????? VAN HALEN should be ashamed they were introduced by her!"

VAN HALEN's appearance at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards — which aired live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas via ABC — marked the first time that the current lineup of the band (including original singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang on bass) has performed at an awards show.

Out now is "Tokyo Dome In Concert", VAN HALEN's first ever live collection featuring David Lee Roth, despite numerous pro-shot concerts from the band's original heyday being heavily booted for years — including film and videotaped-sourced shows from 1981 in Oakland, California; 1982 in Largo, Maryland; 1983 in San Paulo, Brazil and the US Festival in San Bernadino, California; and 1984 in Leicestershire, England — among others.

Wolfgang Van Halen told The Pulse Of Radio that his dad Eddie handed down some key tricks of the trade when playing live. "He definitely has some quirky lines he gives me that definitely help me out, like, in terms of playing music, 'If you ever make a mistake, do it twice so the audience thinks you meant to do it,'" he said.

VAN HALEN has whetted the appetite of die-hards by promising some deep cuts on the upcoming tour. Eddie Van Halen admitted to The Pulse Of Radio a while back that he can't pick a favorite out of the band's many albums. "Well, I tell ya — to me, they're all special," he said. "They're all a bit different, but I love 'em all. Y'know, they're all a piece of me, so they're all very special."

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