Be it due to the influence of hard rock super fan Carrie Underwood or his own knack for memorable guitar solos, but Brad Paisley keeps rocking the free world with his version of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher."
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Ever since guitarist Eddie Van Halen's Oct. 6 passing, country music fans on social media have shared Paisley's 2018 "Hot For Teacher" cover featuring the actor Will Ferrell, Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, but it's not the only must-see country crossover moment for the song (or the only David Lee Murphy meets David Lee Roth happening, if you prefer).
In 2013, Good Morning America and other outlets covered Paisley's live "Hot For Teacher" rendition with then 6-year-old drummer Avery Drummer Molek. It's insane that Paisley or anyone else can even approach the finger tapping, riff conjuring talents of Eddie Van Halen, and it's equally absurd that anyone of any age has the chops to pull off a drum cover of a song that highlighted the talents of Eddie's brother, Alex Van Halen. In short, you don't have to be a lifelong rocker or classic rock devotee to marvel at a gutsy guitar player who happens to be Paisley and a drummer who happened to be elementary school aged at the time.
Paisley paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen on Instagram after the rock star lost his battle with cancer.
"I loved everything about the fire and style he brought to the guitar," Paisley wrote. "I studied him, heck everybody did, we all wanted to play just like him. But no one did it quite like him. Thank you Eddie for being a pioneer. It's unimaginable what the guitar would be without you."
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Others country artists paying tribute include Kenny Chesney (he had his own Sammy Hagar meets Sammy Kershaw happening with the Van Halen brothers) and the genre's own guitar hero, Keith Urban.
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