Legendary Guitarist, Rock Star Eddie Van Halen Dies at 65
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Innovator, virtuoso, inventor, rock god. Just some of the honorifics bestowed on the legendary rock star Eddie Van Halen, who passed away Tuesday October 6th, 2020 at the age of 65.
TMZ was first to report on the death of the iconic Van Halen co-founder after a long battle with throat cancer. His son, Wolfgang Van Halen, made a statement via Twitter.
“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” he wrote. “He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss.”
— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) October 6, 2020
Van Halen is among the most recognized bands and sounds of the late 70s, the 80s and into the 90s and beyond, and Eddie Van Halen’s name is placed among the most accomplished and revered artists and guitarists in rock.
The 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is widely considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time, and the tributes from within the industry and without have been pouring in.
“Were it not for his titanic influence, hard rock after the late 1970s would have evolved in unimaginably different ways,” writes Rolling Stone. “He may not have invented two-handed tapping, but he perfected the practice and introduced it to a mass audience. Yet despite his complete mastery of the electric guitar, he never learned to read music.”
The LA Times recalls this comment from last year’s Grammy weekend: “Ed’s a once- or twice-in-a-century kind of guy. There’s Hendrix and there’s Eddie Van Halen,” friend and guitarist Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains said during Grammy weekend in January 2019. “Those two guys tilted the world on its axis.”
Titanic. Once-in-a-century. Legend.
Rest in Peace.
