RIP Eddie Van Halen
- Thread starter Cricket
- Start date
RIP
Literally just came in from working in the back garage where I had VH Live cranked and see the news, Damn Shame:0008
Literally just came in from working in the back garage where I had VH Live cranked and see the news, Damn Shame:0008
This man was my childhood idol. Inspired me to pick up the guitar at age 12. Saw him 7 times in concert and he always looked like he was having so much fun up there. He was certainly a very quirky dude; have a feeling that the rest of the world didn't make a ton of sense to him but up on stage he was home and everything was all good.
There were lots of rumors that he'd been in a bad way for a while, so not a total shock. But always hoped against hope that they weren't true - or they were and he'd pull through anyway. Obviously, it's everyone's own personal decision what or how much of their health they want to share with others, but I just wish he'd been a little more honest about the struggles he was going through. I think he would have been blown away to find out just how much he meant to so many, and it would have done him and his fans good to have a little catharsis before this day. Moot point now.
Man - f*ck 2020. F*ck it so hard . . .
RIP EVH - forever the King of the Six Strings
:Yep:
There were lots of rumors that he'd been in a bad way for a while, so not a total shock. But always hoped against hope that they weren't true - or they were and he'd pull through anyway. Obviously, it's everyone's own personal decision what or how much of their health they want to share with others, but I just wish he'd been a little more honest about the struggles he was going through. I think he would have been blown away to find out just how much he meant to so many, and it would have done him and his fans good to have a little catharsis before this day. Moot point now.
Man - f*ck 2020. F*ck it so hard . . .
RIP EVH - forever the King of the Six Strings
:Yep:
Musically, he was a genius. He could hear two sounds that appeared exactly the same to almost everyone else, but he heard the subtle difference. Some people thought of him as an ass, but I think it's because he was a perfectionist, surrounded by a crowd of "sounds good to me" people.
Their may be an argument for which person is the greatest guitarist......but, until someone else comes along that proves to be better? He was and is the best to ever play..... He played hard on the guitar and on the stage of life.....Here's to a the greatest ...... EVER
:toast:
:toast:
I always hear people say Hendrix was the best or they mention him in the same breath as EVH but I just don't see it. Eddie is the greatest. When your peers refer to you as the greatest and regular people recognize the talent, case closed. Dude was unbelievable.
Always got a kick out of the fact that Eddie started out with the drum kit and Alex had the guitar.
I have heard that as well about Hendrix and I agree with you.......I do not see it either :0008
- Sep 1, 2012
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Saw VH @ Red Rocks in 15'. If they would have turned off Dave's mic and just played music it would have been magical. Bringing back DLR was a massive mistake. It really took away from the musicianship of Eddie and Alex.
DLR couldn't sing anymore so he basically spoke the songs. SAD. EVH was a once in a lifetime musician and it's a sad story he wouldn't give up smokes and alcohol. RIP EVH and VH.
DLR couldn't sing anymore so he basically spoke the songs. SAD. EVH was a once in a lifetime musician and it's a sad story he wouldn't give up smokes and alcohol. RIP EVH and VH.
my fav
my fav
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my fav
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For any that don't know the story about EVH's involvement with Beat It - this is a great article about it from 2012 for Thriller's 30th anniversary.
TL/DR - He came in as a favor to Quincy Jones, did it for free, and partially rearranged the song while he was at it.
For the big fans - here is an interview with EVH that he gave at the Smithsonian from 2015 when he donated one of his guitars to the institute. Easily the most comprehensive interview he ever gave. And, to the best of my knowledge, the last true interview he ever gave. Everything I've seen more recently was either pinpoint about new gear or just a 1-2 sentence soundbite on something random.
Lastly (for now), here's a great story that I think truly encapsulates what kind of heart the guy had. In 2004 he had recently become friends with Dimebag Darrell (former guitarist of Pantera and Damageplan) right before, tragically and stupidally, a lunatic jumped on stage and shot and killed him at one of his shows. To say that Darrell was a huge Van Halen fan would be an understatement - before every single show the last thing that him and his drummer brother Vinnie Paul would say to each other before going on stage was "Van Halen" to signify the kind of energy and performance perfection they were striving for. Here's the rest of the story (full article here):
In the days after the horror, (girlfriend Rita) Haney spoke with Paul about which guitar should be buried with Dime, who was to be lowered down in a Kiss Kasket, as per his wishes, donated by Kiss leaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (who later did the same for Paul). At that point Van Halen called. ?Dime [had been] ready to cut him a $30,000 check [the night they met] for one of his striped guitars,? Haney said, ?but Eddie told him he?d do a special one for him. So I asked him if he?d stripe up a guitar for Darrell. He said, ?One of the red, white and black ones?? And I said, ?No, Darrell always said that the yellow and black was your toughest guitar.??
On the day of the funeral, Dec. 14, Van Halen arrived with an instrument ? but it wasn?t a new one, it was the original one featured on the back of Van Halen II, dating from 1979. He told Haney, ?An original should have an original.? But he couldn?t bring himself to view Dime?s body, explaining, ?I can?t go in there? I want to remember him like he was that night I met him.? So Haney delivered the gift. Holding up the guitar, complete with rusted strings, Haney told her late lover, ?See, baby? You didn?t get a replica ? you got the one!? She kissed his forehead as she placed it in his casket.
TL/DR - He came in as a favor to Quincy Jones, did it for free, and partially rearranged the song while he was at it.
For the big fans - here is an interview with EVH that he gave at the Smithsonian from 2015 when he donated one of his guitars to the institute. Easily the most comprehensive interview he ever gave. And, to the best of my knowledge, the last true interview he ever gave. Everything I've seen more recently was either pinpoint about new gear or just a 1-2 sentence soundbite on something random.
Lastly (for now), here's a great story that I think truly encapsulates what kind of heart the guy had. In 2004 he had recently become friends with Dimebag Darrell (former guitarist of Pantera and Damageplan) right before, tragically and stupidally, a lunatic jumped on stage and shot and killed him at one of his shows. To say that Darrell was a huge Van Halen fan would be an understatement - before every single show the last thing that him and his drummer brother Vinnie Paul would say to each other before going on stage was "Van Halen" to signify the kind of energy and performance perfection they were striving for. Here's the rest of the story (full article here):
In the days after the horror, (girlfriend Rita) Haney spoke with Paul about which guitar should be buried with Dime, who was to be lowered down in a Kiss Kasket, as per his wishes, donated by Kiss leaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (who later did the same for Paul). At that point Van Halen called. ?Dime [had been] ready to cut him a $30,000 check [the night they met] for one of his striped guitars,? Haney said, ?but Eddie told him he?d do a special one for him. So I asked him if he?d stripe up a guitar for Darrell. He said, ?One of the red, white and black ones?? And I said, ?No, Darrell always said that the yellow and black was your toughest guitar.??
On the day of the funeral, Dec. 14, Van Halen arrived with an instrument ? but it wasn?t a new one, it was the original one featured on the back of Van Halen II, dating from 1979. He told Haney, ?An original should have an original.? But he couldn?t bring himself to view Dime?s body, explaining, ?I can?t go in there? I want to remember him like he was that night I met him.? So Haney delivered the gift. Holding up the guitar, complete with rusted strings, Haney told her late lover, ?See, baby? You didn?t get a replica ? you got the one!? She kissed his forehead as she placed it in his casket.
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Never knew he did the guitar solos on the Beat it solo by Michael Jackson, go figure. The Quincy Jones phone call recollection is damn funny, again thanks for sharing.
RIP Eddie :0008
Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solo at Hollywood Bowl 10/2/2015
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Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solo at Hollywood Bowl 10/2/2015
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