RIP: Eddie Van Halen
Seriously bummed. He's the reason I took up guitar.
https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/06/eddie-van-halen-dead-dies-cancer-65/
October 6th, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
One of my first music video images as a kid was EVH walking the table tops in Hot For Teacher with that great guitar riff!
Fuck 2020 and double FUCK cancer!
RIP Eddie
October 6th, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
RIP Mr VH
...more bad news (in '20) and another reminder of both my age and dwindling shelf life
October 6th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
I'm having an ERUPTION of emotions! 2020 GO AWAY!!!!!!!
October 6th, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
I know that user picture won't match.
My all time favorite guitar player.
Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen changed the guitar!
I have no more words.
October 6th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
The man makes it look so easy.
October 6th, 2020 at 5:27 PM ^
Yup, this sucks. Van Halen was my older brothers' favorite band and I grew up loving them too thanks to my bros. If we caught a song on the radio I'd have to name the song AND the album or suffer the consequences (usually getting slugged in the arm). I learned quickly.
But man could Eddie shred. The music world lost an icon today...
2020 can suck it.
October 6th, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
F
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October 6th, 2020 at 5:49 PM ^
Here's a long interview with Eddie I ran across a couple years ago.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:49 PM ^
+ Billion Points
Thank you for this! Fantastic interview.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:12 PM ^
I've watched this interview a couple of times. When he talks about voltage regulation and a thing called a Variac that he used, I laughed. For some reason I have one of these behemoth dimmer switches right behind me.
October 6th, 2020 at 9:23 PM ^
Excellent post. I didn't know his background. Alice Cooper tells a story about Eddie Van Halen asking Alice Cooper if he could arrange a guitar lesson with Glenn Campbell. Eddie was a groundbreaker but I can see where he might want to work with Campbell on some other technical details.
October 6th, 2020 at 10:25 PM ^
Yeah this is really cool. This is the first I've ever heard him speak his life stories in an interview. Never searched it out before. Thanks for sharing this.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:41 AM ^
I was surprised that he really never read music and did more tabs than chords. But he had a unique guitar sound. I just remember back in the 80s how he would get annoyed when other guitar players copied his technique.
October 6th, 2020 at 6:23 PM ^
I remember when their first album came out in 1978. I was at U-M by then in my freshman year. That album was incredibly fresh and innovative compared to the hard rock music I listened to up to then from groups like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, The Who, etc. I remember thinking "Wow! This is pretty amazing stuff." He helped usher in a new era in rock music. RIP Eddie.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
One of the best first songs on a first album ever. Runnin’ With The Devil
For me, maybe only Good Times, Bad Times is better.
talk about announcing yourself to the world.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:53 PM ^
TBG and JB - well said. My sentiments exactly.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:44 AM ^
I was in the 10th grade and we had a little street band. We were wondering how in the heck he was playing the guitar, that was before MTV - music videos, so all we had was the album to listen too.
October 6th, 2020 at 6:32 PM ^
An awful year just keeps getting worse.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:13 PM ^
wow...totally caught me by surprise
great artist, super talent, seemed to be an awesome human being
RIP this one really hurts.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:14 PM ^
Serious bummer.
I met his cousin a few years back and am still in touch with her and her husband. She told me unbelievable stories about when she was 18 and took a year off to travel with him and the band.
what an unbelievable guitarist. Undisputed top 5 of all time.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:20 PM ^
2020 is really one of the more unrelenting, merciless years yet, and in human history, that might be saying something.
October 6th, 2020 at 7:54 PM ^
One of the greats. Loved his playing.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^
Devastated.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:08 PM ^
And to think he originally wanted to play the drums. Fate is funny.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:18 PM ^
In 1978 our football team coalesced around that first album. Hearing Running With The Devil for the first time was a true WTF moment for me. No brown M&Ms for me the rest of the year.
October 6th, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^
Let's not forget Eddie played lead on Michael Jackson's "Beat It".
October 6th, 2020 at 8:25 PM ^
He’s a legend
October 6th, 2020 at 10:07 PM ^
Arguably the best rock drummer (Neil Peart) and best rock guitarist (Eddie Van Halen) gone within the same calendar year.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:05 AM ^
All I have to say is this:
EVH is actually not the reason I play guitar personally, nor is it the reason for many guitarists everywhere probably. But when you see one on a stage doing what they love to the best of their ability, EVH is the only reason you THINK they could have, and perhaps that’s even more remarkable of a legacy.
The crazy thing is, his mortality ironically proves his God-like immortal existence, because when listening to his music we still get to do what we did when he was here: lean back to avoid our faces from melting, shake our heads in disbelief, and smile.
Rest in Power, Eddie.