R.I.P. Eddie VanHalen

[Hypercaffium]

Jesus Christ... we're still in october. I'm pretty sure this damned year will give us another couple of bad surprises.

 

[Roxbororob]

Cancer sucks. It took my father. It took my brother. It now took Eddie.

Condolences Doc.

 

[The Doctor 4000]

Condolences Doc.

Thank you

 

[RichardW]

And name another rocker who looked just like his wife. You can't.

Mick and Bianca Jagger.

RIP Eddie. A true original.

 

[SteveBassJr]

He made me realize how cool playing a guitar could be (before I learned that bass was cooler)
My first record was Fair warning. I was blown away. Thanks King Edward for the licks and the smile.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

This is my all-time favorite pic of Mr. Van Halen. He was in his youth and on top of the world. A seriously badd-ass musician! The

reason I wanted to play the guitar. Thanks for making my teenage years (and beyond) so wonderful, Edward.

 

[jdh3000]

No other guitar player inspired as many uoung guitarist as he did.

I played guitar back in the 80s and though my main bag was blues and country, I liked Van Halen and I was influenced by him, working on right hand tapping that he made more popular than anyone.

So very sad... RIP Eddie...

 

[dalkowski]

Mick and Bianca Jagger.

Well played.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Well damn.

I got to see him live several times. He was the man.

Eddie Van Halen Dead at 65 from Cancer

Thank you for soooooo much fun music....and for inspiring two or three generations of guitar players.

RIP .. one of the most exciting guitarists ever ..

 

[knumbskull]

Great interview from 1980 here:

Van Halen - 1980 - Interview Eddie Van Halen w Jas Obrecht

 

[TuneIn]

My first concert was VH, it was amazing!
Sad to see another great one pass.
His music will continue to inspire.

 

[Jack Butler]

He really was a pioneer in so many ways, but I've always said his greatest talent was putting tons of killer guitar playing into a 4 minute pop song your non-musician spouse will like too. So many good memories of "listening parties" with my buddies when a new VH album came out. Hearing each one for the first time is burned into my memory. This one hits me harder than any musician death so far. Ugh.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

RIP Maestro! Thanks for everything!

 

[Hummergeist]

RIP Ed. Thanks for the music!!

Here’s a rare pic of EVH playing bass!! Bonus points if you can ID what make of bass that is.View attachment 4009523

Kramer Duke!

 

[Hummergeist]

Van Halen were an influence on nearly everything I do musically - bass, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, synths, even mixing. Most of my time is spent producing electronic music, and even then, VH is in there somewhere. Can't imagine a world without EVH, or VH as a band.

 

[Fun With Dirt]

What I dug most about EVH was that there was something for everyone. How many times have you seen musicians that pretty much only appealed to people that were music nerds... or maybe ONLY appealed to fans of a type of music? Not EVH. He could do it all. You could listen to VH and enjoy it like just your average joe listening to the radio. ...you could be a music nerd and tear apart every note and where he played it and find so much fun stuff in there. He could outrun the "fastest" or "most acrobatic" of guitarists. ...but he could calm it down and make it amazing like with Finish What You Started. ...that's my favorite all time VH guitar song.

 

[Hummergeist]

What I dug most about EVH was that there was something for everyone. How many times have you seen musicians that pretty much only appealed to people that were music nerds... or maybe ONLY appealed to fans of a type of music? Not EVH. He could do it all. You could listen to VH and enjoy it like just your average joe listening to the radio. ...you could be a music nerd and tear apart every note and where he played it and find so much fun stuff in there. He could outrun the "fastest" or "most acrobatic" of guitarists. ...but he could calm it down and make it amazing like with Finish What You Started. ...that's my favorite all time VH guitar song.

Well said, much as you or I might like Holdsworth, for example, it's not party music. A unique balance of all of those demands/skills...

 

[Jack Butler]

I always liked this...just Eddie having fun with that smile and his playing that is always recognizable in any context from the first note

 

[Gustopher]

RIP EVH, thanks for the music and the memories!

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Great interview from 1980 here:

Van Halen - 1980 - Interview Eddie Van Halen w Jas Obrecht

Yeah... and he didn't give many interviews! Thanks for sharing