Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen (photo: Jim Rinaldi)

Eddie Van Halen, guitarist and co-founder of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Van Halen, has passed away at the age of 65 from throat cancer. Van Halen was perhaps the most influential guitarist of his era and countless musicians were inspired by his guitar style.

Van Halen’s only son Wolfgang, who joined the band’s lineup later in their career, announced the news on social media, writing, “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 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.”

Eddie Van Halen and his brother Alex played music together growing up in California in the ’70s, before forming Van Halen the band with charismatic frontman David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. The band quickly gained a reputation for their live shows and signed to Warner Bros in 1977. Their self-titled record was a hit and the band’s career took off, culminating in the massive MTV-era album 1984, which featured “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher,” among others. Van Halen also played the iconic guitar solo on Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It” and famously did it for free as a favor to Quincy Jones.

However, Roth quit the band following the touring behind 1984. Van Halen regrouped with new singer Sammy Hagar, who stuck around for over a decade before a falling out. Roth reunited briefly to record two new songs for a best-of set, then quit again. Extreme singer Gary Cherone infamously fronted Van Halen for 1998’s Van Halen III before he was fired.

Van Halen reactivated again in the mid-2000’s for a reunion tour featuring Hagar on vocals again, but Van Halen was battling with alcohol addiction at the time. Around this time, his wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, filed for divorce. Soon after, Michael Anthony was pushed out of the band, replaced by Wolfgang on bass. Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, but Eddie was in rehab at the time and the only members on hand for the ceremony were Hagar and Anthony, neither of whom were currently in the group.

Van Halen regrouped once again with Roth fronting the group for a handful of reunion tours and one final album, 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth. Their last concert was in October of 2015. Van Halen’s fight with throat cancer had been known for years and according to TMZ, he had been hospitalized multiple times over the past 12 months.