RIP: Eddie Van Halen

A Legend!!!
R.I.P.

[1margarette]

My old soul feel sad after hearing this news.

[BMWGUYinCO]

I too, am devastated.

I was inspired by him to even consider picking up a guitar some 40 years ago.
He was a musical genius; there are lots of artists who can shred as fast, but none could inject the kind of "party" vibe that made his rock music so desirable, nor none who were as innovative, and influential. He reinvented both the guitar and amp through his pursuit of legendary tone.

FU 2020.

RIP Sir Edward.

[TheVazha]

Not a story I'm proud of, but it's ok to share here.

I must have been in my early 20's from my memory. Went to see Van Halen, had back stage passes through a bud. Stayed up all night partying back stage. Got to get trashed with Eddie, Sammy, Alex and Micheal. Royally TOTALED my Benz that night. God was watching and I walked away without a scratch.

Haven't told anyone that story, and honestly I forgot it until I heard this news today. What a short precious life we live.

RIP Eddie.

[4Hockey4]

Limp Bizkit jam story my favorite...this, this is perfect. And while I never graced his rock presence, I was friends with Grohl, grew up with him...he was not legendary back then lol

Virtuoso. Visionary. Revolutionary. Tinkerer. Inventor. Sonic assassin. Showman. Hit maker. Off-the-boat-Immigrant, the American Dream made flesh. It's impossible to sum up this man's contributions to music in a stupid post like this but I'm gonna try.
First, and this can't be stated enough - there was simply nobody like Edward Van Halen before he arrived. Easy to forget when you think of the droves of followers who made cliches out of his inventions. But make no mistake, Ed was numero uno.
His band were wildly popular and they made loud party music, so the critics were never going to get behind them. But Van Halen's work deserves to be studied and analysed, poked, prodded and puzzled over for another century at least. And Eddie was the engine of it all.
He made it look easy - the ever-present grin, the casual onstage acrobatics. Behind all that was an all-consuming devotion and discipline. Countless hours not just practicing his instrument, but trying to reimagine the instrument itself: tinkering with gear, mad-scientist-style, tearing things apart, blowing shit up, forcing conventional equipment to submit to his will. He needed the perfect tonal delivery system for his entirely new six-string language and he attained it. Boy, did he ever.
Even guitarists occasionally forget the primacy of EVH. The decades after his official bomb-dropping arrival in 1978 have been strewn with fretboard wizards who, standing in his impossibly long shadow, absorbed his tricks, his tone, his innovations. Some played them faster, added new techniques, broke the land speed record. Some of them were innovative in their own right. But without Edward's blueprint, they just wouldn't have existed. In electric guitar history, there is pre-Eddie and post-Eddie.
And those packed arenas? They were packed because the man could write SONGS. Songs that appealed to people who aren't guitarists. Van Halen music is irrepressible, reckless, dazzling, drunken, daredevil shit with melodies you hum all the way home. There is a white-knuckle vitality to the music that grabs you by the lapels and forces you to deal. Ed's virtuosity was just a way to throw some extra adrenaline into the party - a party to which EVERYONE was invited.
EVH's influence on me goes without saying. If you play electric guitar, it's inevitable. But he's so much more than a guitar god - the albums, the songs, the crackling incandescent energy of the music are the likes of which you only get to witness once per lifetime. I'm grateful to have had Van Halen in my formative years. Thank you, Ed.

[Robin_NL]

Rust in Vrede Eddie, Nederland's grootste rockartiesten aller tijden.

Both are the Netherland's greatest rock artists ever. RIP Eddie.

Jump has been my ringtone for over 10 years.

Cheers
Robin

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by infinitekidM2C

RIP.

After Kiss, Van Halen was one of the first groups i was into as a kid.

Mine was Status Quo in the 70s followed by AC/DC and Iron Maiden, but from '86 on a big big VH fan.

I'm 50 y.o. btw

Cheers

[EdM5]

[F32Fleet]

Sad really. Throat cancer is no joke. I think he said he started smoking and drinking at age 12. That's a lot of years of hard living.

[spazzyfry123]

A good listen for the fans...

http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/e...aordinary-swap

[King Rudi]

I was gutted when I saw this yesterday. I grew up in a home that only listened to pure classic country gold.....I hated it. Back in the early 80's right after MTV came out, one of the major broadcast channels used to have a show called Friday Night Videos, where they played music videos after 11:00 pm. I remember seeing Hot for Teacher and that was it. I found the music that sparked something inside me. I was never really in to music until I heard Van Halen. From there the interest grew and I dove as deep as I possibly could.

Eddie is responsible for my picking up a guitar......which is also the inspiration for my two sons and my step-son learning to play guitar. Amazing at how influential one person can be and have such an impact on so many lives world wide. I remember seeing a documentary about Eddie when I was younger, that discussed what got him into playing, the fact that he never had any lessons and learned to play by teaching himself. This is the reason his style was so unique and the invention of techniques that he used.....tapping, the drill, etc.

The world lost a f*cking legend yesterday. Whatever is on the other side of the veil of life, I'm sure he was welcomed with open arms. Thank you for the inspiration and the number of lives you touched Eddie.

[EdM5]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

I remember seeing Hot for Teacher and that was it. I found the music that sparked something inside me. I was never really in to music until I heard Van Halen. From there the interest grew and I dove as deep as I possibly could.

[bucketfoot]

Just wish he and Sammy could have reconciled first...

[M5Rick]

2020 is a bad year for a lot of people.RIP Van Halen.

[MaynardZed]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

Sad really. Throat cancer is no joke. I think he said he started smoking and drinking at age 12. That's a lot of years of hard living.

Yeah, very sad. I shed some tears indeed. He was blessed with longevity though, in comparison to the other rock guitar legends on (my) Mt. Rushmore.

Hendrix (27)
Duane (24)
SRV (35)
EVH (65)

[rickc007]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qV28gn4lkk

[DocL]

One of my favorite VH songs, and another great example of EVH guitar work. Man I'm missing him even more.

[Captain Blood]

Originally Posted by DocL

VH is one of my favorite bands. I feel fortunate to have seen them a few times. I can distinctly remember losing my hearing permanently in my left ear while Eddie played Eruption. It was well worth it.

Between Peart and Van Halen, in 2020 we've lost two of the greatest musicians.

My sentiments exactly. How many times did I draw the picture below on my school books in middle school and high school? 100? I still think " The cradle will rock" may be the best hard rock song of all time.

[quick6]

Many great memories of driving around in a 911 SC with the top down with the wife, and two little kids in the back, in Newport Beach with "Panama" loudly playing on cassette tape.

Eddie was so great he could make a Michael Jackson song sound out of this world.(Beat It)
RIP Eddie.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by infinitekidM2C

RIP.

After Kiss, Van Halen was one of the first groups i was into as a kid.

First album : Kiss Destroyer
Second Album: self-titled Van Halen


IIRC.

[Efthreeoh]

Never was a huge fan of VH as a band mostly because of DLR, but Eddie stands above as a fortunate anomaly in the realm of rock guitarists.

I remember my first hearing of Van Halen at a party in 1978, and saying "holy shit who is that?" Having grown up mostly with Page and Townsend, Eddie was a different rock ecosystem altoghter. TBH I thought the swap of Hagar for Roth was a blessing (and the only VH material I own).

RIP Mr. Van Halen. Godspeed to you.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by bucketfoot

Just wish he and Sammy could have reconciled first...

Here you go, buddy: