RIP Eddie Van Halen

[QuickDraw]

One of the great guitarists of his time lost his battle with cancer.

 

[Husky25]

Very sad news. I am one of relative few who celebrate the first two iterations of Van Halen (the band) just about equally. Van Halen's creativity evolved with the times over the course of three decades. Great music came out of both eras.

 

[uconngb]

Very sad news. I am one of relative few who celebrate the first two iterations of Van Halen (the band) just about equally. Van Halen's creativity evolved with the times over the course of three decades. Great music came out of both eras.

I'm far more partial to the original band, but this is awful news. Celebs and sports figures seem to be dropping like flies.

 

[HCCForever]

I too was more partial to the original but both were easy to listen to. I enjoyed his guitar and found it hard to believe that he never learned to read music. One of my favorite early tunes was Running With The Devil.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

damn, what had he even been up to the last handful of years?

 

[CL82]

Wow, that is just crazy. It seems like yesterday he was this guy:

RIP

 

[FatHank]

Aww man. Bad day.

 

[B1GEast]

Crazy

 

[87Xfer]

I was definitely partial to the DLR era music, but liked some of the later stuff too. RIP Eddie.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

 

[storrsroars]

I was not a huge VH fan, but I thank EVH for introducing a new generation to The Kinks.

It's a shame the man had demons with the talent he had and his lifelong love of music. RIP.

 

[alexd]

damn, what had he even been up to the last handful of years?

The last VH tour was in 2015 with DLR up on vocals. Very good show at the Meadows in Hartford with Kenny Wayne Shepherd opening.

 

[87Xfer]

 

[TXHuskyFan]

Went to the New Haven Coliseum to see Van Halen during the DLR years. Kind of drifted away from heavier metal by the time of the SH years, but always appreciated Eddie as a guitarist. I was devastated hearing Jump for the first time in late December 1983. I can recall heading up 91 for a new year’s ski trip to Vermont and not getting out of the car for lunch just I could hear the 1st airing of Jump, and hearing the keyboards was so disappointing.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Had part of his tongue removed due to the cancer a few years ago. He thinks it is because of the metal picks he used to put in his mouth all those years. Nothing definitive but he said the cancer was right where he always put the picks.

Definitely loved the DLR stuff. Eruption is still one of the best guitar intros ever and it made for the awesome Nissan Super Bowl commercial.

The Van Hagar years gave Eddie a bit more leeway musically since Sammy could play guitar whereas Dave was just vocals.

 

[UCfor3]

Very sad news. I am one of relative few who celebrate the first two iterations of Van Halen (the band) just about equally. Van Halen's creativity evolved with the times over the course of three decades. Great music came out of both eras.

Always tough to beat the original but 5150 was a damn good 1st album considering the major change behind the mic. Some bands pull off a huge change like that amazingly like AC/DC going from Bon Scott's passing to Brian Johnson with Back in Black. Most of the time bands faceplant. Van Halen still stayed somewhat relevant despite being different thanks to Eddie. RIP.

 

[Husky25]

Being a chain smoker was not a contributor? Even after he had 1/3 of his tongue removed, he jumped on the e-cig train with both feet.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Being a chain smoker was not a contributor? Even after he had 1/3 of his tongue removed, he jumped on the e-cig train with both feet.

He freely admits the smokes, alcohol and drugs could have caused the cancer or made it worse. He had the C in the tongue and esophagus but claims his lungs were clean as a whistle.

 

[Edward Sargent]

He freely admits the smokes, alcohol and drugs could have caused the cancer or made it worse. He had the C in the tongue and esophagus but claims his lungs were clean as a whistle.

Cigarette smoke contains over 250 known genotoxic substances (pot smoke actually contains a few more). Several dozen have been shown to also cause cancer in animals. Cigarette smoke is the single most environmental cause of cancer with the exception of UV light. Epidemiological evidence links cigarette smoking with cancer of the lung, throat, esophagus, stomach, intestine, bladder, liver, pancreas and possibly breast. Eddie's lungs weren't clean as a whistle but maybe didn't have cancer. Alcohol may have been synergistic with throat, esophageal, liver and pancreatic cancer. Smoking pot as I already said is either as bad or worse than cigarettes (probably worse due to holding smoke, deep inhalations and no filters). Cocaine is a severe cardiotoxin otherwise there is no good link to cancer. If you stop smoking now your risk of cancer drops with each year you've quit to the point that after 10 years your risk of cancer is nearly what it would be if you hadn't smoked. If you need references I can provide. Stop smoking now.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Cigarette smoke contains over 250 known genotoxic substances (pot smoke actually contains a few more). Several dozen have been shown to also cause cancer in animals. Cigarette smoke is the single most environmental cause of cancer with the exception of UV light. Epidemiological evidence links cigarette smoking with cancer of the lung, throat, esophagus, stomach, intestine, bladder, liver, pancreas and possibly breast. Eddie's lungs weren't clean as a whistle but maybe didn't have cancer. Alcohol may have been synergistic with throat, esophageal, liver and pancreatic cancer. Smoking pot as I already said is either as bad or worse than cigarettes (probably worse due to holding smoke, deep inhalations and no filters). Cocaine is a severe cardiotoxin otherwise there is no good link to cancer. If you stop smoking now your risk of cancer drops with each year you've quit to the point that after 10 years your risk of cancer is nearly what it would be if you hadn't smoked. If you need references I can provide. Stop smoking now.

TL;DR.

Smoking is bad for your health?
Excessive drinking is bad for your health?
Coke is bad for your health?

Thanks for the PSA.

 

[nomar]

TL;DR.

Smoking is bad for your health?
Excessive drinking is bad for your health?
Coke is bad for your health?

Thanks for the PSA.

Counterpoint:

(BTW, his autobiography is amazing.)

RIP to EVH.

 

[Milo65]

So many great songs, at age 51, I feel like part of my childhood died. I drew that VH symbol on my book covers, remember Better Off Dead hamburger? Saw them live with Sammy at the New Haven Coliseum probably 1986. My favorite VH song is Mean Streets, but my deep track is Drop Dead Legs.

 

[Dean Wormer]

Of course I’m partial to the original VH, but Right Now was one of the best synergies of song and video I’d ever seen. The first time I saw it, just blew me away!

 

[Edward Sargent]

Had part of his tongue removed due to the cancer a few years ago. He thinks it is because of the metal picks he used to put in his mouth all those years. Nothing definitive but he said the cancer was right where he always put the picks.

Definitely loved the DLR stuff. Eruption is still one of the best guitar intros ever and it made for the awesome Nissan Super Bowl commercial.

The Van Hagar years gave Eddie a bit more leeway musically since Sammy could play guitar whereas Dave was just vocals.

Probably where he also put his cigarette too!

 

[Palatine]

Eddie was a virtuoso. I went to see Van Halen just to wait for his solo. Was not disappointed. RIP.