Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen has passed away following a long battle with cancer. He was just 65 years old.
Honestly, it’s hard to put into words just what EVH means to rock and roll. When you Google ‘Guitar God,’ you should see Eddie Van Halen right there near the top of the results. I mean, in 2012, Guitar World’s readers picked him as the Greatest Guitarist of All-Time, according to Wikipedia. What more proof do you need than that?
Eddie founded the band with his brother, Alex, in the early 70s and welcomed David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony into the fold to form the classic lineup just a short while later. The classic lineup released six albums together before Roth left the group and was replaced by Sammy Hagar. The group would reunite with Roth to release a seventh album in 2012.
I could go on and on about the legacy EVH leaves behind, but I think it’s more important to share some of my favorite Van Halen songs. Truthfully, there’s a lot more than what’s below, but if I’m picking VH songs, these are my choices. Rest easy, Eddie.
