![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Eddie-Van-Halen.jpg\")
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\u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,\u2019\u2019 said the musician\u2019s son, Wolfgang, who is the band Van Halen\u2019s bassist, on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the best father I could ever ask for,\u201d the 29-year-old son said. \u201cI love you so much, Pop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Halen passed away at St. John\u2019s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. \u2014 surrounded by his son, wife Janie, ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli and brother Alex, who is the drummer in the band, TMZ reported.<\/p>\n
The rocker \u2014 a former longtime heavy smoker who was first diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and shortly after had a third of his tongue removed \u2014 suddenly went hill a few days ago, sources told the site.<\/p>\n
Van Halen once said he was the perfect example of an immigrant living the American dream.<\/p>\n
He was born in the Netherlands and came to the US with his family in 1962 at age 7.<\/p>\n
Ten years later, he and his brother formed Van Halen along with vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony.<\/p>\n
For nearly the next five decades, the group broke rock-music records, selling 80 million records worldwide and joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.<\/p>\n
Their hits included \u201cJump,\u201d \u201cHot for Teacher,\u201d \u201cRunning with the Devil\u201d and \u201cPanama\u201d \u2014 with the then-shaggy-haired, goofy-grinning Eddie leading the way on guitar.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know s\u2013t about scales or music theory,\u201d Eddie told Rolling Stone in 1980. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be seen as the fastest guitar in town, ready and willing to gun down the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I know is that rock & roll guitar, like blues guitar, should be melody, speed, and taste, but more important, it should have emotion. I just want my guitar playing to make people feel something: happy, sad, even horny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eddie made a name for himself particularly as a masterful innovative player, using amps, pedals and other effects to elevate the genre.<\/p>\n
He is widely recognized for popularizing the two-handed tapping method, in which both hands are used to tap on the fretboard.<\/p>\n
He even\u00a0held a US patent\u00a0\u2014 for a \u201cmusical instrument support\u2019\u2019 device that freed up his hands so he could use both to achieve the effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were the Mozart of rock guitar,\u2019\u2019 Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted of Eddie on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
After Eddie developed cancer, he claimed that he thought he got it from holding metal picks in his mouth, TMZ reported last year, citing sources.<\/p>\n
The rocker spent several years flying back and forth from the US to Germany for treatment.<\/p>\n
Eddie was married twice, first to \u201cOne Day at a Time\u201d TV actress Bertinelli in 1981, with whom he had Wolfgang. After their divorce in 2007, he married Jane Liszewski in 2008.<\/p>\n
Bertinelli, 60, tweeted a long string of broken hearts Tuesday under her Twitter handle, @Wolfiesmom.<\/p>\n
In a statement Tuesday, the Recording Academy saluted Grammy-winning Eddie for his contributions \u201cto some of the world\u2019s most iconic music.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis explosive guitar playing and approach to the musical process solidified him as an undeniable force in his field and forever established his place as a true guitar hero,\u201d said academy chair & interim president\/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. \u201cThe world is lucky to have witnessed Eddie\u2019s genius as a guitarist, and we know he will influence and shape rock music indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eddie\u2019s career was marked by experimentation and collaboration, including when he played a solo on Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBeat It\u201d in 1982, and contributed to albums by musicians such as Queen\u2019s Brian May, LL Cool J and Sammy Hagar \u2014 who would later join the band from 1985 through 1996, followed by a two-year reunion in 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeartbroken and speechless. My love to the family,\u201d\u00a0Hagar tweeted\u00a0Tuesday after learning of Eddie\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Besides being a guitar legend Eddie also was legendary for a quirky piece of rock folklore. In the 1980s Van Halen inserted a clause into a tour rider that required a candy bowl containing M&Ms be placed backstage \u2014 but containing \u201cabsolutely no brown ones,\u201d in order to make sure promoters were paying attention to the pages-long document.<\/p>\n
The guitar guru was even name-checked for his finger work in 1989\u2019s \u201cBill & Ted\u2019s Excellent Adventure.\u201d In one scene, the movie\u2019s namesake dudes, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, talked about adding Eddie to their band, Wyld Stallions, in order to make a most excellent music video.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed, while I agree that in time our band will be most triumphant, the truth is Wyld Stallions will never be a super band until we have Eddie Van Halen on guitar,\u201d said Winter\u2019s Bill, leading to a nonsensical discussion about bringing him on board.<\/p>\n
Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Producer Ed Solomon\u00a0tweeted Tuesday\u00a0that he even attempted to get Eddie for a cameo in the 2020 sequel, \u201cBill & Ted Face the Music,\u201d but was told \u201che was unavailable\u201d for reasons unknown. \u201cSadly, I think I know now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n Rock legend Eddie Van Halen \u2014 the guitar god known for his astounding solos and superstar band \u2014 died Tuesday\u00a0after a long battle with cancer, his family said. The iconic Dutch-born rock-and-roll virtuoso was 65. \u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[611],"tags":[4334],"yoast_head":"\n\r\n \t