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| Know more about Eddie Van Halen's life here. |
Rock legend Eddie Van Halen — the guitar god known for his astounding solos and superstar band — died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, his family said.
The iconic Dutch-born rock-and-roll virtuoso was 65.
“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,’’ the musician’s son,
Van Halen passed away at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. — surrounded by his son, wife Janie, ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli and brother Alex, who is the drummer in the band, TMZ reported.
The rocker — a former longtime heavy smoker who was first diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and shortly after had a third of his tongue removed — suddenly went downhill a few days ago, sources told the site.
Van Halen once said he was the perfect example of an immigrant living the American dream.
He was born in the Netherlands and came to the US with his family in 1962 at age 7.
Ten years later, he and his brother formed Van Halen along with vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony.
For nearly the next five decades, the group broke rock-music records, selling 80 million LPs worldwide and joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Their hits included “Jump,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Running with the Devil” and “Panama” — with the then-shaggy-haired, goofy-grinning Eddie leading the way on guitar.
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| Know more about Eddie Van Halen's life here. |
He is widely recognized for popularizing the two-handed tapping method, in which both hands are used to tap on the fretboard.
He even held a US patent — for a “musical instrument support’’ device that freed up his hands so he could use both to achieve the effect.
“You were the Mozart of rock guitar,’’ Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted of Eddie on Tuesday.
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.
Eddie spent several years of medical treatment between the US and Germany.
Eddie was originally married to TV actress Bertinelli, Wolfgang's mother. Eddie later married Jane Liszewski after his divorce to Bertinelli.
Bertinelli, 60, tweeted a long string of broken hearts Tuesday under her Twitter handle, @Wolfiesmom.
In a statement Tuesday, the Recording Academy saluted Grammy-winning Eddie for his contributions “to some of the world’s most iconic music.”
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| Know more about Eddie Van Halen's life here. |
Eddie’s career was marked by experimentation and collaboration, including when he played a solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in 1982, and contributed to albums by musicians such as Queen’s Brian May, LL Cool J and Sammy Hagar — who would later join the band from 1985 through 1996, followed by a two-year reunion in 2003.
Producer Ed Solomon tweeted Tuesday that he even attempted to get Eddie for a cameo in the 2020 sequel, “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” but was told “he was unavailable” for reasons unknown. “Sadly, I think I know now,” he said.
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