No on anticipated that the world would lose a guitar great today, but there it was – at age 65, Eddie Van Halen had died of cancer.  He’d had some bouts with cancer over the years, but it still came as a shock to most people.

In my opinion, Eddie was one of the four most important rock guitarists of all time, along with Page, Clapton, and Hendrix.  Eddie’s playing influenced… well, I mean, almost everyone who heard him, even if they didn’t play in the rock genre.  His battle with alcohol and issues in his personal life will be covered by other people, not me.  I’m writing to acknowledge that today we lost one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

When Van Halen 1 hit the radio, people flipped out.  No one had played like that before.  And when they heard the landmark guitar solo “Eruption,” there were a lot of guitarists who wanted to throw down their instruments and quit, because they had no idea how he managed to play what he played.  This was pre-Internet and no one knew at first that he was tapping.  And that TONE!  Guitarists were dying to find out how he got that wonderful guitar tone, which was like nothing we’d heard before.

In the years that followed, people learned Eddie’s secrets – the two handed tapping that was so alien and revolutionary at the time is now fodder for super gifted 12 year olds on YouTube, and his tone became the blueprint for a whole new guitar sound that is still with us today, and can now be approximated with fairly modest equipment.  Like military secrets, guitar playing techniques and equipment secrets are very fleeting.  It was also inevitable that there would be players who would go beyond Eddie’s speed and chops and soar to even higher levels…

…but it was Eddie who showed them the way.  Much like Hendrix, Clapton, and Page before him, he discovered the new landscape and blazed a trail for others to follow.  There were many who followed who could play hard rock faster, but in my opinion none who could play it BETTER.  Eddie Van Halen was a genius.  He wasn’t the first guitarist to use a vibrato bar – but he took it to a new level.  He wasn’t the first guy to do tapping – but he took it to a new level.  He wasn’t the first guy to play rock guitar leads fast – but he took it to a new level.  And he wasn’t the first guy to have a great distorted guitar sound – but he took it to a new level.  Name me another guitar player who advanced how the guitar was played in FOUR different areas.  At the same time.  On his FIRST ALBUM.

Van Halen 1 remains, to me, one of the best rock albums of all time.  Yes, the rest of the band had a big role to play, too.  But Eddie was the primary, driving force.  And the big hair metal bands that came after Eddie were mostly pale imitations.  Eddie changed the way rock guitar would be played, forever, just like Page, Clapton, and Hendrix.  His influence on rock will continue on as long as rock does.

Thank you, Eddie Van Halen. You will be missed, and never forgotten.