Howard Stern Pays Tribute To Leslie West

Howard Stern returned to the air on Monday for the first installment of SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show since Leslie West died late last month. Stern was a huge fan of the Mountain guitarist, who made numerous appearances on Howard’s show dating back to the 1980s, and took a few minutes to share memories of West.

“He was my hero. I was in high school, I was a loser, I was lonely and no one wanted to be friends with me,” Howard recalled. “I would sit in my room listening to [Mountain’s music] over and over again.” Stern noted that his mother hated the music, a fact that made Stern feel like he was a rebel.

Howard was introduced to Leslie West by Joe Walsh during one of Joe’s appearances on the show. Stern told Walsh that Leslie was a hero of his. Joe responded that he had West’s number and Howard decided to call Leslie while he was on the air. “It turned out Leslie was actually sitting and listening to this because he was a true fan of the show,” Stern explained.

The phone call led to a string of appearances as Howard became friends with his hero. In 1987, Stern filmed a few pilots for a late-night television show and Howard tapped Leslie West to serve as his band leader. Howard shared memories of that experience. “Getting on the radio and getting to know Leslie West was a huge triumph in my life,” Stern added. “I never thought that I would get to know a guy like that. He was just delightful, just one of the most wonderful human beings.”

Watch Howard’s tribute to Leslie West below:

Leslie West’s last live appearance and performance on The Howard Stern Show came in 2005, when the “Mississippi Queen” guitarist delivered a solo acoustic rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind.” See West’s stirring rendition of the tune: