RIP Eddie Van Halen

[Parminio]

One of the best guitarist that ever lived. He lost a long battle with throat cancer. He was 65.

Damned cigarettes.

 

[totalcomfort]

Sad day he was one of the greats.

 

[1badmax]

Didn't hear, yeah great guitarist.

 

[Woody]

One of my favorites. Been rockn to Eddies sounds.since 1978.
R I P.

 

[Itgoes]

I was not a huge Van Halen fan but he was undeniably a great and unique talent. His sound was all his not a copy of anyone else.......... a phenomenal guitarist.

 

[TK3333]

Sad to hear. Wore out my VH 1 cassette tape back in the day. Think I had every VH tape they made before Sammy. Rip Eddie, thanks for the hits.

 

[Kronx]

2020 ******* sucks. Music lost two rock titans in one year. Neil Peart and Eddie Van Halen. Growing up in nowhere Mississippi I didn't have any music stores or radio stations that weren't country. I lived off of cassette tapes that I would make when I got access to new music. Van Halen Fair Warning and Rush Moving Pictures were the constant soundtrack of my youth.

There are arguably many guitar players today who can play stuff Eddie Van Halen can't. But those guitarists haven't moved the goalposts like Eddie Van Halen did. They had to come up with a new way to write music because of what he was doing. Which Eddie Van Halen always got a laugh about because he couldn't read music. He didn't just move the goalposts as a guitar player, but as a guitar maker as well. Les Paul considered Eddie Van Halen one of the few that was equal to him in electric guitar making. Almost all electric guitars today have some DNA of Eddie Van Halen's influence in them. Eddie Van Halen's 5150 guitar head came out in 1992 and is still considered one of the best around. He was a mad scientist with a guitar pick and a soldering iron.

If you're a Van Halen fan and his passing has caused you to reminisce as it did me, here's how I went through a little "therapy" about it. I have Kegerator with some really good beer that's nice and cold. But I went old school. I went back to what I would be drinking during those times in my life that are marked with Van Halen as a backdrop. I went down to the store, got some cheap beer and iced it down in a cooler. Then I put on YouTube, and rocked out to a live performance with this YouTuber who is a guitar teacher. The guys name is Michael Palmisano and his love of good music is infectious. If you're someone like me who plays an instrument but it's gathered dust, I recommend watching his channel. He might get you excited about music again.

Anyway, my heart goes out to Alex Van Halen and Wolfgang and everyone in that sacred circle who was on the receiving end of Eddie Van Halen's love.

 

[desert_max]

Whoa. Great tribute to a legend that also helped shape my youth.

I did not have the words to express the loss. (It still smarts).

You sure did.

Thank you.