Patty Smyth talks turning down Eddie Van Halen, nearly 30-year marriage to John McEnroe, and stories behind Scandal’s biggest hits
From the LifeMinute.tv Team
October 2, 2026
Patty Smyth has stories — and she’s not sugarcoating them. In a new Joann Butler In Studio With… interview, the Scandal singer looks back on everything, from opening for Andy Kaufman at 15 to growing up with a mom who managed New York City clubs — and literally ran away to the circus as a teen.
Then there’s “Goodbye to You.” Smyth says she helped finish the song and believes she wrote the bridge but didn’t realize at the time that it counted as songwriting. “I still feel like I have to set the record straight,” she says. She also credits MTV with helping Scandal break through during an era when women in rock were often fighting for the same tiny slice of radio airplay.
And yes, the Eddie Van Halen story is true. Smyth says he asked her to step in after David Lee Roth left Van Halen, but she was eight months pregnant and said no. Sammy Hagar came next. Looking back, Smyth says she wishes she and Eddie had at least made a record together.
She also gets real about husband John McEnroe — tennis legend and musician — joking that despite his famous temper, she’s actually the hothead in the relationship. After more than three decades together, Smyth says he’s still the one calming her down.
And she’s still mixing things up. Last year Smyth performed a Christmas show with Bill Murray at the Carlyle, and now she’s heading back there for five intimate nights October 20–24. She’s also thinking about new music, more recording and even a totally unexpected collaboration with a hip-hop artist.
This is a LifeMinute with Patty Smyth.