“I think Jimmy’s pointing at Ed, but he motions for me to come over. He said, ‘You have something that these other guys here don’t’”: Steve Lukather was hanging out with Eddie Van Halen, when Jimmy Page paid him the highest compliment

(Image credit: Left–Steve Jennings/Getty Images; Right–Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Getting endorsed by Jimmy Page is something most guitarists could only dream of. However, Steve Lukather is one of the lucky ones who’s received the highest of compliments from the Led Zeppelin icon.

Aside from releasing nine solo albums, Lukather has sat in and recorded on more than 1,000 records for the likes of Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, and Aretha Franklin. What’s more, over the last decade or so, he’s been working as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

“I have a funny story about Jimmy,” the session legend tells Forbes. “It was the one and only time I ever met him. I went over to this Guitar Center thing honoring Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap. In fact, I ended up producing four tracks on their next record because of that night.

“I think he’s pointing at Ed, of course, but it’s me, and he motions for me to come over. He said, ‘You have something that these other guys here don’t.’ And I go, ‘What’s that, Jimmy?’ He said, ‘You understand and I understand, but those other guitarists don’t. We were studio players. They don’t know what that means.’”

Page went on the say that he had read that Lukather wasn’t being taken seriously because he was just a “studio guy” – a notion that Page, once a session guitarist himself, strongly opposed.

Lukather adds, “‘That’s the opposite of the absolute truth. That sets you above these other guys,’ Jimmy said. I asked if I could give him a hug, and tell people he had said that. He laughed, gave me a hug and said, ‘Sure.’ That meant the world to me.”

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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.