Eddie Van Halen was a guitarist in the band Van Halen, which was led by singer David Lee Roth (and later Sammy Hagar). The band reached popular status and topped charts in the 1980s.
Marty McFly was a fan of Eddie Van Halen and had a tape of his music, which he listened to on his Walkman. As "Darth Vader", he tortured George McFly with the volume setting on maximum, as Eddie played a loud guitar solo.
Marty also imitated Eddie Van Halen's "tapping" technique while playing Johnny B. Goode at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Behind the scenes
Van Halen would not allow the name of their band to be used in Back to the Future, and for this reason, Marty's tape is labeled "Edward Van Halen", who wrote and played an untitled piece for this scene without pay as a favor for record producer Quincy Jones.[1] [2]
