We are absolutely devastated to help broadcast the news about the legendary and oh so influential guitarist Eddie Van Halen passing away. The musician sadly lost his long battle with throat cancer and has left us at age 65. A statement from his son Wolfgang is below the photo.
Van Halen by Ken Pierce (2012)
Wolf Van Halen’s Statement:
“I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning. He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with hi on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.
Van Halen by Ken Pierce (2012)
*** end of statement ***
When I think back to where I first heard the music of Van Halen, I think that I was sitting on the porch of one of my friends houses. One of our number had a radio playing the local Rock station which would have been either WNEW or WPLJ at the time and they were playing this brand-new band called Van Halen and their cover of “You Really Got Me” which was originally done by The Kinks. The photos presented in this memorial toast hail from a Van Halen concert we attended and discussed HERE while the guitar photo comes from an exhibit at The Met that we went to last year and shared the findings on our Official Instagram.
January was a great month for Hard Rock and Metal bands releasing iconic albums as it was only the other day that Judas Priest celebrated thirty years of “Defenders Of The Faith” (which was toasted HERE) and now it was Van Halen’s turn to soak up the rays of praise as “1984” hit the record store shelves thirty years ago today. I have to admit that the money I was making as a Wall Street messenger back then was being put to good use and the record shop was a regular place to visit and walk out with something. Van Halen was one of those bands that I was listening to since the very first album and they were one of my top three bands of all time. The other two are KISS and Judas Priest and each has had works covered on the core PiercingMetal website in addition to these blogs. The anticipation was high about “1984” because friends and I had been hearing the single “Jump” for a few weeks and while the memory has faded on when we all first saw the video for the tune, I would like to think that this was not too long after the album hit the street if not before. One should realize that in this time in music the video drove added sales to the album. Continue reading Van Halen’s “1984”: Big Brother’s Still Watching @ 30 Years (1984-2014)→
