Apparently, there has been some debate in the past over a scene from the first Back to the Future movie. We all know Marty McFly was a big guitar geek in the flick, or at least we think he was judging from his playing with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters.

In that prom scene with the band McFly hits on playing styles from the greats like Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Angus Young, and possibly more. Despite the excellent guitar stylings he exhibits during this scene, the debate centers around a different scene, one where he visits a younger version of his father dressed as a spaceman.

While his father slept, Marty hooked him up to his Sony Walkman and let him hear a few crazy sounding guitar licks, just to get his attention. The tape he loaded in the Walkman said, “Eddie Van Halen”. I guess there was some doubt about it truly being Eddie’s playing, but the man himself, Eddie Van Halen, recently verified that it was indeed his performance we heard.

Below, you can find that great scene with Marty and his dad, and also a great video of him performing at his dad’s prom where the director of the film so tastefully decided to show off the tribute he made to his guitar mentors.

For comparison sake, I thought it would be nice to include this video of Eddie back in 1985 making some of those crazy guitar noises that have made him famous. Enjoy: