RIP Eddie Van Halen....

[ctgagnon]

“I used metal picks ― they’re brass and copper ― which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer,” he said.

[blue]

Was going to sell my MIJ EVH special. Think I won't. Still remember the first time the needle dropped on the first album for me. Yes it was all about the guitar. But when the bass on Runnin' kicked in? Pretty much the same feeling as the first time I heard the intro of Purple Haze. Hard to think of another song right now that hit so hard on first hearing for me.

[Stratcat77]

Not known for his acoustic playing but even unplugged he was amazing..

https://youtu.be/iDsa4uDM3zU

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by brencat

10 year battle with throat cancer comes to a sad end. How many times did we see him in concert playing with a cigarette stuck between the strings on the headstock? 65 is too young.

I think he had an oral cancer and he credited the cancer to a copper pick he kept in his mouth apparently at the site of the first tumor...if I've got this story straight.

I quit smoking for the last time in 1984. That is a good thing to have done too.

[Bridgepin]

Wow, very sad. The man was a icon. I knew that his cancer had retuned and he wasn't doing well, but still it is a shocker. RIP Eddie.

[Ludere]

Very sad indeed ...

I met him at party many moons ago, before all the stardom and shiny things came into play ... he was very humble and affable ... and just a kid. Hell, we both were.

(How could that have been so long ago? )

We lost another good one today - RIP Eddie.

[Dru Edwards]

It's amazing how he came onto the rock scene. His talent, his 'brown' sound (as it came to be known), his stage presence. Very sad day.

RIP Eddie.

[blue]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I think he had an oral cancer and he credited the cancer to a copper pick he kept in his mouth apparently at the site of the first tumor...if I've got this story straight.

I quit smoking for the last time in 1984. That is a good thing to have done too.

Eddie was always ready with a story. Lots of people hold metal, including brass and copper in their mouths. Think cobblers for one. There is also this "Women who use copper intrauterine devices (IUD) as a form of birth control may be at lower risk for high-grade cervical cancer compared with those who use a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system".

He drank and smoked. He probably at some point used snuff or chewing tobacco. It was a real thing in the late 70's and 80's.

No hate. I love him. But of all the habits that could have given him cancer, holding a pick isn't one of them.

Remember that big copper pic craze that hit because Eddie used them? Me neither.

[Bob Womack]

Ironically, my favorite song by his band wasn't a guitar song: Jump!

RIP Eddie.

Bob

[steelvibe]

A sad day for me for sure. This was my generation's Hendrix. He moved the goal posts and changed the way people understood what could be done on the guitar. While I wasn't in high school when Van Halen l dropped, I was in middle school when 1984 came out. Although there are so many others, EVH probably is the main reason I picked up guitar.

[LeDave]

Just saw this on channel 5 news. Very sad.

[BillyMays]

He is truly one of the most influential guitar players of all time and is the motivation behind my first guitar as a teen, among many millions of other guitar players. The guitar community truly has lost a great.

-R.I.P. Eddie, the world will miss you.

[Bear Davis]

Could not agree more.

RIP Eddie

[Tyeetime]

EVH was a big part of the soundtrack of my teens. I didn't even try to play like him, didn't know where to start.
But more than his shredding, I always thought he played fantastic rhythm guitar. His right hand was up there with the best. RIP

[llew]

Sad...another great gone. Rest In Peace Eddie!