In Episode 451 of the “Iron City Rocks” podcast, JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda reflected on Eddie Van Halen‘s passing, saying: “May he rest in peace. I’m not even a guitar player — I’m just an acoustic guitar player… Oh my God. When it comes to him as a guitarist, I think he’s one of the best. And he’s a God. He’s a God when it comes to playing. I feel so bad. He’s gone too soon, really. Gone too soon.”
Eddie died on October 6 at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with his son Wolfgang and Alex, Eddie‘s brother and VAN HALEN drummer.
After undergoing hip replacement surgery in 1999 due to a chronic joint problem, Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had to have part of his tongue surgically removed. Declared “cancer-free” in 2002, he subsequently had to intermittently have “cancer cells scraped out of his throat after they migrated there.” He later battled lung cancer and had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. Things took a turn for the worse in early 2019 when Eddie got in a motorcycle accident. He was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and received gamma knife radiosurgery to treat the illness.
Following Eddie‘s death, fans left flowers at his childhood home on Las Lunas Street in Pasadena, California. Additional flowers, candles and fan mementos were placed on Allen Avenue where Eddie and Alex scratched their band’s name into the wet cement of a sidewalk when they were teenagers.
VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
