Official Thead: RIP EVH Eddie Van Halen

Heart breaking. An absolute legend.

 

On Halloween evening 2004 at the Fargodome during that ill-fated tour the wife and I bought the deluxe sound check front row package and on our way to soundcheck our guide was laying down the ground rules and said “don’t engage Eddie AT ALL please” so we were all quietly waiting and the band (no Sammy) comes out and Eddie appeared with his handlers holding a bottle of Smoking Loon and proceeds to just SMOKE through about 30 minutes of classic VH tunes. They get done and he proceeds to noodle on some pedal and I’m like fifteen feet away just crapping myself. He gets done, croaks “guitar good” picks up his wine and started shuffling off the stage when my wife yells “HEY EDDIE! WE SAW YOU THE OTHER NIGHT IN ST. PAUL AND LOVED IT WHEN WOLFIE CAME OUT!!”. He stopped, whirled around and said “who said that?”. This, I figure, is when we get thrown out. So my short, plump little wife has her hand up “I did, I did”. Eddie comes over, kneels on stage in front of my wife and I, takes her hand and says “What a wonderful, wonderful question“ and proceeds to have the sweetest five-minute conversation with my wife about how awesome Wolfie is. I mean, he was a little buzzed but the overall impression was how kindly he spoke to her when the subject was Wolfie. It was awesome. But I could not think of one intelligent thing to say to my hero because I didn’t want to interrupt their talk. Later that night, we were in the front row and during the breakdown to “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love” Sammy and I locked eyes and he gave me the mic and I gotta say, I nailed it. Memorable night.

 

He just always seemed to be having so much darn fun on stage. Always a joy to watch and listen.

so long Eddie. You’ll be missed

 

Not only did he give us some cool music. But he also put out on the market some really good guitars, amps and effects. Like the Peavey stuff and some of his own brand stuff.

Here's CBS's news story about him today.

 

If looking for a silver lining, some kid somewhere is hearing this and deciding to dedicate their life to guitar as Yngwie and Satriani claim you have upon Jimi’s passing.

 

For all the slippery, random, off-the-cuff notes that make up his solos, I've always been amazed at how he always found the exact right place to land.... and how incredibly tight and precise his rhythm playing was.

Listening to Fair Warning now. Just.... no words.

That first release-bend note on "Dirty Movies".... perfection.

 

was very sad to hear this today. what an immensley talented person, and hugely influentual, with a unique style and sound. Thanks for the music Eddie.

 

Comes to rock stars, he was a ROCK STAR
See ya later EVH, but not too soon!

 

Just when you thought 2020 could not possibly get any worse. RIP EVH.

 

Next Question ??

 

RIP EVH. Condolences to his family & friends.

 

My heart has a huge hole in it now.

 

 

 

Started learning to play the guitar because of Edward. Which was no easy task, trying to learn 'little guitars" (intro), and Fair Warning, in it's entirety. Not easy, but taught me so much in technique and phrasing, even though I play indie/noise rock and shoegaze now. Thank you Ed

 

A legend.

 

For all the slippery, random, off-the-cuff notes that make up his solos, I've always been amazed at how he always found the exact right place to land.... and how incredibly tight and precise his rhythm playing was.

Listening to Fair Warning now. Just.... no words.

That first release-bend note on "Dirty Movies".... perfection.

And that is what one does. Resolve to close the circle. And he done did that well. Yep.

 

@leonard d rock

Thank you for posting that. Beautiful.

 

Goddammitall. Say hi to Dimebag man. Give him a hug for the rest of us.
Already miss the hell out of ya.
RIP brother.

 

Thanks !

 

RIP Ed. You made me a better musician. Always an inspiration.
I can still remember hearing Jamie's Crying on the radio when it was first released. How time flies.