EVH - RiP

mr_goo

After a very long battle with cancer Eddie Van Halen has passed away.
Legendary and Innovator are words used quite freely when someone dies, however EVH was perhaps the 2nd greatest Innovator of rock guitar playing after Jimmi Hendrix.
Sadly I never got to see him perform live and not many this side of the Atlantic did. His influence on rock music will live on.

Cargobike

Used to be a huge Van Halen fan back in the day, so Eddies departure is sad to see and 65 is no age these days.
Sadly, to the average man in the street, he'll be best known for his guitar licks on Michael Jacksons "Beat It", but Eddie could rock with the best of them.
However, he wasn't neccessarily the virtuouso of the guitar that many claim, but a wizard of the production studio. Most of his riffs were production desk mixes that he then had to learn to play after they were recorded, rather than throwing the riff down first.
Anyway, great excuse to play a video with scantily clad women in bikinis
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6M4_Ommfvv0&ab_channel=VHTelevision

DeVlaeminck

The song that springs to mind is Jump - probably because I'm not a rock music fan and that was a chart hit. Sad when someone that contributed to the culture of our youth passes away.

amrushton

I saw him on the 1st and 2nd album tours. The game changed overnight with his arrival. Everyone famous or not had to rethink their approach unless you were an established player like Page or Clapton. Those early riffs were not studio products but came from rehearsals and shows. You watched him and the music flowed from him. Like watching Jeff Beck, seemingly effortless. Watching Vai, Satriani or Rhoads was the same. But Eddie raised the bar.