The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney Weighs In On Sabbath, Van Halen

One of the best things about being in a band as a duo is that there aren’t generally lineup shuffles.  And it doesn’t seem like  Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney is a fan of lineup changes that much. In an interview with Rolling Stone, The drummer had some choice things to say about Black Sabbath and Van Halen’s lineup changes – and we can’t say we disagree with him. When asked what bands he would be checking out at Lollapalooza, he said that while he loved Black Sabbath, he wasn’t sure it wanted to see them. “I don’t know if I’d want to watch Black Sabbath without Bill Ward. The band is Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy.  I have no interest in seeing bands with partial lineups.”

That also extends to Van Halen, even though Wolfgang replacing Michael Anthony makes the band 75% Van Halen, instead of the 50% it was before. “I’m not a very big Van Halen fan but it was such a fucking bummer,” he said. Like what the fuck is the point? I mean, sure, Eddie Van Halen’s son is a pretty good bass player and he’s a 20-year-old kid and that’s cool, but like, what the fuck is that? That’s fucking retarded. If someone is able to be in a band for 30 years and then people are okay with replacing him with a 17-year-old, they’re obviously motherfucking assholes, right?”

As far as Sabbath is concerned, amen. While we hope Tony Iommi lives for a long time, he’s being treated for lymphoma, and the band only have one more show booked this Summer. For them to not reunite with all their members while they’re all still alive is a damn shame. And we already knew that Van Halen had a reputation as, well, assholes.  But Carney’s point underscores that. To throw out Michael Anthony out of pettiness and his relationship with Sammy Hagar is definitely a dick move.