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Eddie van halen
Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images
- Rock legend Eddie Van Halen died at the age of 65.
- His son, Wolf Van Halen, announced the news Tuesday that he had lost his long battle with cancer.
- The guitar virtuoso group is considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time with more than 75 million albums sold and hits such as Skip, Panama, Running with the devil Y Eruption.
Eddie Van Halen, the guitar virtuoso whose group is considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time, died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, his son announced.
“I can’t believe I have to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” Wolf Van Halen wrote in a Twitter message with a photo of the 65-year-old rocker. .
“He was the best father I could ask for,” he added. “Every moment that I have shared with him on and off stage was a gift.
“My heart is broken and I don’t think I will ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much Dad.”
Born in the Netherlands and raised in California, Van Halen founded the rock group with his older brother Alex in the early 1970s and quickly built a fan base.
He was famous for what became known as “finger playing” – playing the guitar with both hands, like a piano.
He was also known for his guitars, including one called Frankenstein, which he assembled from parts of other instruments.
Among the classics of the group are Skip, Panama, Running with the deviland the guitar solo Eruption.
“Ed is the kind of person who shows up once or twice in a century. There’s Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen,” Alice in Chains friend and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said during Grammy weekend in January 2019. its axis “.
Van Halen has sold more than 75 million albums and has more number one hits on the US rock chart than any other artist, according to the band’s label.
The group’s album 1984 was to be the highlight of the band, giving them their only number one single Skip.
The creative tension within the band overflowed during the 1984 tour, with Eddie Van Halen and original frontman David Lee Roth fighting. Roth left the band in April 1985.
One of his complaints with Eddie Van Halen was reportedly the rocker’s outside job which included providing lead guitar for the 1983 Michael Jackson smash hit. Beat it.
However, Van Halen announced a reunion tour in 2007 with Roth performing with the group for the first time in 22 years.
Another tour planned in 2012 had to be canceled after Eddie Van Halen had to undergo emergency surgery.
But the band reunited again in 2015 for an extensive North American tour.
Eddie Van Halen was known to have health problems that would interfere with his job for years.
He underwent hip surgery in 1999 and had part of his tongue removed in 2000 after he was diagnosed with cancer, probably due to heavy smoking.
Although he was declared cancer free after surgery, the American tabloid news site TMZ reported earlier this year that he had been traveling to Germany for treatment for throat cancer.
His drug abuse and heavy drinking contributed to his 2007 divorce from television actress Valerie Bertinelli after 16 years of marriage.
“He was an alcoholic and needed alcohol to function,” he said in a 2015 interview with Billboard Magazine.
“I didn’t drink to party. Alcohol and cocaine were private things to me. I would use them to work. The hit keeps you awake and alcohol lowers your inhibitions. I’m sure there were musical things I wouldn’t have tried. me in that state of mind?
Tributes from some of the biggest names in music came on Tuesday following news of his death.
“I am devastated to hear the news of the passing of my dear friend Eddie Van Halen. He fought a long and hard battle with his cancer to the end. Eddie was a very special person, truly a great friend. Rest in peace my dear friend until let’s meet again, “Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi tweeted.
“Sad to hear that Eddie Van Halen has passed away. A guitar innovator with a fierce spirit of musical exploration and technique. Prayers and thoughts with his family and friends,” Yusuf / Cat Stevens tweeted.
Songwriter Diane Warren said in a tweet that “guitars softly cry everywhere. Shred In Power Eddie Van Halen.”
The rocker is survived by his second wife Janie Liszewski and son, as well as his first wife Bertinelli.
