Eddie Van Halen [1955-2020]

Artist: Van Halen

LP: 7" single

Song: "Pretty Woman"

[ listen ]

 

I have to admit, I've never been a huge Van Halen fan or anything, but still I was sad to hear that guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. Everyone else seemed to be jumping online to post eulogies to Van Halen today, so I figured... might as well jump. 

 

"Pretty Woman" was the first Van Halen song I became aware of; it was played on the radio a lot when my brother Matt and I first began paying rapt attention to pop music in late 1981 and early 1982. ("Pretty Women" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in '82.) You can read all about Van Halen here, and go here to find a nice obituary for Eddie in the NY Times. I didn't know he had been married to Valerie Bertinelli!

 

[ L to R: Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen ]

 

Eddie Van Halen

[ January 26, 1955 — October 6, 2020 ]

We will miss you, Eddie.