My hubby and I rocked out gloriously at the Van Halen concert (complete with David Lee Roth) on Jan. 26 during our Dallas vacay. Eddie Van Halen jumped alongside the still-outrageous Diamond Dave and beamed as he did the duck walk, Chuck Berry–style.
What I didn’t know as I matched the guitarist’s infectious bounce and grin is that Eddie had a hip replacement nine years ago at 44 (my dreaded destiny). Who’da thunk? Even when the arena serenaded him with his 53rd “Happy Birthday,” he seemed spryer than the new 16-year-old bassist opposite him, his son Wolfgang.
Turns out it was avascular necrosis—loss of bone caused by poor blood supply—in his right hip that necessitated the surgery. (This and osteoarthritis are the reasons for my left hip’s demise.) But he moves great now.
Eddie’s not the only touring rocker to sport titanium. Mötley Crüe axeman Mick Mars was 53 when he underwent his replacement in 2004 after a long bout with the chronic degenerative illness ankylosing spondylitis.
Flashy Kiss frontman Paul Stanley had a hip replacement at age 53 in 2005. But it wasn’t easy. His operation was botched, according to an interview with Billboard, and he required further surgery.
It’s even been rumored in, uh, well, the National Enquirer and the U.K.’s Daily Mail that Prince, the tiny quintessential stageman, was told that he needed a hip replacement at the age of 47 after too many years spent dancing in heels. Allegedly he opted out of surgery because of his religious beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness, but that whole story is unconfirmed.
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